Long-Term Debt (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Long-Term Debt [Abstract]

Long-Term Debt

The activity in our long-term debt from December 31, 2012 to June 30, 2013 is summarized as follows:

			Six months ended
			June 30, 2013						Interest
									Rate at
		December 31,		Payments		New		June 30,	June 30,
($ in thousands)		2012		and Retirements		Borrowings		2013	2013 *
Senior Unsecured Debt	$	8,919,696	$	(1,533,880)	$	750,000	$	8,135,816	7.96%
Industrial Development
Revenue Bonds		13,550		-		-		13,550	6.33%
Rural Utilities Service
Loan Contracts		9,322		(194)		-		9,128	6.15%
TOTAL LONG-TERM DEBT	$	8,942,568	$	(1,534,074)	$	750,000	$	8,158,494	7.95%
Less: Debt (Discount)/Premium		(71)						333
Less: Current Portion		(560,550)						(257,905)
	$	8,381,947					$	7,900,922

* Interest rate includes amortization of debt issuance costs and debt premiums or discounts.  The interest rates at June 30, 2013 represent a weighted average of multiple issuances.

Senior Unsecured Debt

Additional information regarding our Senior Unsecured Debt is as follows:

($ in thousands)	June 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		Principal	Interest		Principal	Interest
		Outstanding	Rate		Outstanding	Rate
Senior Notes and    Debentures Due:
1/15/2013	$	-	-	$	502,658	6.250%
5/1/2014		200,000	8.250%		200,000	8.250%
3/15/2015		105,026	6.625%		300,000	6.625%
4/15/2015		96,872	7.875%		374,803	7.875%
10/14/2016 *		488,750	3.075% (Variable)		517,500	3.095% (Variable)
4/15/2017		606,874	8.250%		1,040,685	8.250%
10/1/2018		582,739	8.125%		600,000	8.125%
3/15/2019		434,000	7.125%		434,000	7.125%
4/15/2020		1,021,505	8.500%		1,100,000	8.500%
7/1/2021		500,000	9.250%		500,000	9.250%
4/15/2022		500,000	8.750%		500,000	8.750%
1/15/2023		850,000	7.125%		850,000	7.125%
4/15/2024		750,000	7.625%		-	-
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%
		7,885,816			8,669,696
Subsidiary Senior Notes    and Debentures Due:
2/15/2028		200,000	6.730%		200,000	6.730%
10/15/2029		50,000	8.400%		50,000	8.400%
Total	$	8,135,816	7.77% **	$	8,919,696	7.69% **

*      Represents borrowings under the Credit Agreement with CoBank.

**    Interest rate represents a weighted average of the stated interest rates of multiple issuances.

Debt Maturities by Year

Our principal payments for the next five years are as follows as of June 30, 2013:

		Principal
($ in thousands)		Payments
2013 (remaining six months)	$	28,948
2014	$	257,916
2015	$	259,840
2016	$	345,466
2017	$	607,375
2018	$	583,273