Long-Term Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Long-Term Debt [Abstract]

Long-Term Debt

The activity in our long-term debt from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012 is summarized as follows:

				Year Ended
				December 31, 2012								Interest
				Payments								Rate at
	December 31,			and			New		December 31,			December 31,
($ in thousands)	2011			Retirements			Borrowings		2012				2012*
Senior Unsecured Debt	$	8,325,774		$	(756,078	)	$	1,350,000	$	8,919,696			7.86	%
Industrial Development
Revenue Bonds		13,550			-			-		13,550			6.33	%
Rural Utilities Service
Loan Contracts		10,197			(875	)		-		9,322			6.15	%
Total Long-Term Debt	$	8,349,521		$	(756,953	)	$	1,350,000	$	8,942,568			7.85	%
Less: Debt Discount		(31,113	)							(71	)
Less: Current Portion		(94,016	)							(560,550	)
	$	8,224,392							$	8,381,947

* Interest rate includes amortization of debt issuance costs and debt premiums or discounts. The interest rates at December 31, 2012 represent a weighted average of multiple issuances.

Senior Unsecured Debt

Additional information regarding our Senior Unsecured Debt at December 31, 2012 and 2011 is as follows:

	2012					2011
		Principal	Interest				Principal			Interest
($ in thousands)		Outstanding	Rate				Outstanding			Rate
Senior Notes and Debentures Due:
1/15/2013	$	502,658	6.250%	$			580,724			6.250%
5/1/2014		200,000	8.250%				600,000			8.250%
3/15/2015		300,000	6.625%				300,000			6.625%
4/15/2015		374,803	7.875%				500,000			7.875%
10/14/2016*		517,500	3.095% (Variable)				575,000			3.175% (Variable)
4/15/2017		1,040,685	8.250%				1,100,000			8.250%
10/1/2018		600,000	8.125%				600,000			8.125%
3/15/2019		434,000	7.125%				434,000			7.125%
4/15/2020		1,100,000	8.500%				1,100,000			8.500%
7/1/2021		500,000	9.250%				-			-
4/15/2022		500,000	8.750%				500,000			8.750%
1/15/2023		850,000	7.125%				-			-
11/1/2025		138,000	7.000%				138,000			7.000%
8/15/2026		1,739	6.800%				1,739			6.800%
1/15/2027		345,858	7.875%				345,858			7.875%
8/15/2031		945,325	9.000%				945,325	9.000%
10/1/2034		628	7.680%				628	7.680%
7/1/2035		125,000	7.450%				125,000	7.450%
10/1/2046		193,500	7.050%				193,500	7.050%
		8,669,696					8,039,774
Subsidiary Senior Notes and Debentures Due:
12/1/2012		-	-				36,000	8.050%
2/15/2028		200,000	6.730%				200,000	6.730%
10/15/2029		50,000	8.400%				50,000		8.400%
Total	$	8,919,696	7.86%		$		8,325,774		7.93%

*Represents borrowings under the Credit Agreement with CoBank.

Contractual obligations maturities by year

Our principal payments for the next five years are as follows as of December 31, 2012:

	Principal
($ in thousands)	Payments
2013	$	560,550
2014	$	257,916
2015	$	732,746
2016	$	345,466
2017	$	1,041,186

Future minimum payments for finance lease obligations and capital lease obligations as of December 31, 2012 are as follows:

($ in thousands)	Finance Lease Obligations		Capital Lease Obligations
Year ending December 31:
2013	$	5,339	$	3,055
2014		5,170		3,107
2015		5,276		3,161
2016		5,407		3,216
2017		5,550		3,273
Thereafter		54,274		22,387
Total future payments	$	81,016		38,199
Less: Amounts representing interest				(11,603	)
Present value of minimum lease payments			$	26,596