Cost and Fair Value Basis of Long-Term Debt

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Disclosure Cost And Fair Value Basis Of Long Term Debt [Abstract]

Cost and Fair Value Basis of Long-Term Debt Text Block

7.       Cost and Fair Value Basis of Debt

Cost and Fair Value of Short-Term Debt

Our short-term debt consists of commercial paper and bank loans with an average maturity date of May 13, 2012 and an outstanding balance of $113.7 million as of March 31, 2012. The fair value of our commercial paper approximates the amortized cost using Level 2 inputs.

Cost of Long-Term Debt

Our utility's long-term debt consists of secured Medium Term Notes (MTNs)with maturity dates ranging from 2014 through 2035, interest rates ranging from 3.176 percent to 9.05 percent, and a weighted-average coupon rate of 5.85 percent. During the three months ended March 31, 2012, we redeemed $40 million of MTNs.

Our gas storage segment's long-term debt consists of $40 million of fixed and variable senior secured notes with a maturity date of November 30, 2016. The $20 million fixed portion of the debt hasan interest rate of 7.75 percent, and the $20 million variable portion currently has an interest rate of 7.00 percent. See Note 7 in our 2011 Form 10-K for more detail on long-term debt.

Fair Value of Long-Term Debt

As our outstanding debt does not trade in active markets, we used interest rates ofother companies'outstanding debt issuances that actively trade and have similar credit ratings, terms and remaining maturities to estimate the fair value of our long-term debt issuances. These inputs are significant other observable inputs, or Level 2 inputs, in the fair value hierarchy.The following table provides an estimate of the fair value of our long-term debt, including current maturities of long-term debt, using market prices in effect on the valuation date:  

	March 31,					December 31,
Thousands		2012		2011		2011
Carrying amount	$	641,700	$	601,700	$	681,700
Estimated fair value		742,852		680,436		808,724