Debt

The nature and terms of our debt instruments and credit facilities are described in detail in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. Except as noted below, there were no material changes in the terms of our debt instruments during the three months ended December 31, 2016.

Long-term debt at December 31, 2016 and September 30, 2016 consisted of the following:



	December 31, 2016		September 30, 2016
	(In thousands)
Unsecured 6.35% Senior Notes, due June 2017	$	250,000	$	250,000
Unsecured 8.50% Senior Notes, due 2019	450,000		450,000
Unsecured 5.95% Senior Notes, due 2034	200,000		200,000
Unsecured 5.50% Senior Notes, due 2041	400,000		400,000
Unsecured 4.15% Senior Notes, due 2043	500,000		500,000
Unsecured 4.125% Senior Notes, due 2044	500,000		500,000
Medium-term note Series A, 1995-1, 6.67%, due 2025	10,000		10,000
Unsecured 6.75% Debentures, due 2028	150,000		150,000
Floating-rate term loan, due 2019	125,000		—
Total long-term debt	2,585,000		2,460,000
Less:
Original issue discount on unsecured senior notes and debentures	4,184		4,270
Debt issuance cost	16,617		16,951
Current maturities	250,000		250,000
	$	2,314,199	$	2,188,779

On September 22, 2016, we entered into a three year, $200 million multi-draw floating-rate term loan agreement with a syndicate of three lenders. Borrowings under the term loan may be made in increments of $1.0 million or higher, may be repaid at any time during the loan period and will bear interest at a rate dependent upon our credit ratings at the time of such borrowing and based, at our election, on a base rate or LIBOR for the applicable interest period. The term loan will be used to refinance existing indebtedness and for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. At December 31, 2016, there was $125.0 million outstanding under the term loan.

We utilize short-term debt to fund ongoing working capital needs, such as our seasonal requirements for gas supply, general corporate liquidity and capital expenditures. Our short-term borrowing requirements are affected primarily by the seasonal nature of the natural gas business. Changes in the price of natural gas and the amount of natural gas we need to supply our customers’ needs could significantly affect our borrowing requirements. Our short-term borrowings typically reach their highest levels in the winter months.

We currently finance our short-term borrowing requirements through a combination of a $1.5 billion commercial paper program, four committed revolving credit facilities and one uncommitted revolving credit facility with third-party lenders that provide approximately $1.6 billion of total working capital funding. The primary source of our funding is our commercial paper program, which is supported by a five-year unsecured $1.5 billion credit facility that expires September 25, 2021. The facility bears interest at a base rate or at a LIBOR-based rate for the applicable interest period, plus a spread ranging from zero percent to 1.25 percent, based on the Company’s credit ratings. Additionally, the facility contains a $250 million accordion feature, which provides the opportunity to increase the total committed loan to $1.75 billion. This facility was amended in October 2016 to increase the total availability from $1.25 billion. At December 31, 2016 and September 30, 2016 a total of $940.7 million and $829.8 million was outstanding under our commercial paper program.

Additionally, we have a $25 million unsecured facility and a $10 million unsecured revolving credit facility, which is used primarily to issue letters of credit. At December 31, 2016, there were no borrowings outstanding under either of these facilities; however, outstanding letters of credit reduced the total amount available to us under our $10 million revolving facility to $4.1 million.

The availability of funds under these credit facilities is subject to conditions specified in the respective credit agreements, all of which we currently satisfy. These conditions include our compliance with financial covenants and the continued accuracy of representations and warranties contained in these agreements. We are required by the financial covenants in each of these facilities to maintain, at the end of each fiscal quarter, a ratio of total debt to total capitalization of no greater than 70 percent. At December 31, 2016, our total-debt-to-total-capitalization ratio, as defined in the agreements, was 50 percent. In addition, both the interest margin and the fee that we pay on unused amounts under certain of these facilities are subject to adjustment depending upon our credit ratings.

These credit facilities and our public indentures contain usual and customary covenants for our business, including covenants substantially limiting liens, substantial asset sales and mergers. Additionally, our public debt indentures relating to our senior notes and debentures, as well as certain of our revolving credit agreements, each contain a default provision that is triggered if outstanding indebtedness arising out of any other credit agreements in amounts ranging from in excess of $15 million to in excess of $100 million becomes due by acceleration or is not paid at maturity. We were in compliance with all of our debt covenants as of December 31, 2016. If we were unable to comply with our debt covenants, we would likely be required to repay our outstanding balances on demand, provide additional collateral or take other corrective actions.

As of December 31, 2016, AEM had one uncommitted $25 million 364-day bilateral credit facility that was scheduled to expire on July 31, 2017 and one committed $15 million 364-day bilateral credit facility that was scheduled to expire on September 30, 2017. In connection with the sale of AEM discussed in Note 6, both facilities were terminated on January 3, 2017. There were no amounts outstanding under these facilities as of December 31, 2016.