Repayments of debt

  
Long-term debt at June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021 consisted of the following:

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | June 30, 2022 |  | September 30, 2021 |
|   | (In thousands) |
| Unsecured 0.625% Senior Notes, due March 2023 | $ | 1,100,000  |  |  | $ | 1,100,000  |  |
| Unsecured 3.00% Senior Notes, due 2027 | 500,000  |  |  | 500,000  |  |
| Unsecured 2.625% Senior Notes, due 2029 | 500,000  |  |  | 300,000  |  |
| Unsecured 1.50% Senior Notes, due 2031 | 600,000  |  |  | 600,000  |  |
| 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 | 750,000  |  |  | 750,000  |  |
| Unsecured 4.30% Senior Notes, due 2048 | 600,000  |  |  | 600,000  |  |
| Unsecured 4.125% Senior Notes, due 2049 | 450,000  |  |  | 450,000  |  |
| Unsecured 3.375% Senior Notes, due 2049 | 500,000  |  |  | 500,000  |  |
| Unsecured 2.85% Senior Notes, due 2052 | 600,000  |  |  | —  |  |
| Floating-rate term loan, due April 2022 | —  |  |  | 200,000  |  |
| Floating-rate Senior Notes, due March 2023 | 1,100,000  |  |  | 1,100,000  |  |
| 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  |  |
| Finance lease obligations | 52,196  |  |  | 18,739  |  |
| Total long-term debt | 8,012,196  |  |  | 7,378,739  |  |
| Less: |  |  |  |
| Original issue discount on unsecured senior notes and debentures | 3,760  |  |  | 2,811  |  |
| Debt issuance cost | 47,842  |  |  | 45,271  |  |
| Current maturities | 2,201,430  |  |  | 2,400,452  |  |
|  | $ | 5,759,164  |  |  | $ | 4,930,205  |  |

On October 1, 2021, we completed a public offering of $600 million of 2.85% senior notes due 2052, with an effective interest rate of 2.58%, after giving effect to the offering costs and settlement of our interest rate swaps. The net proceeds from the offering, after the underwriting discount and offering expenses, of $589.8 million were used for general corporate purposes.On January 14, 2022, we completed a public offering of $200 million of 2.625% senior notes due 2029, with an effective interest rate of 2.54%, after giving effect to the offering costs. The net proceeds from the offering, after the underwriting discount and offering expenses, of $200.8 million were used to repay our $200 million floating-rate term loan on January 18, 2022. Short-term debt We utilize short-term debt to provide cost-effective, short-term financing until it can be replaced with a balance of long-term debt and equity financing that achieves the Company’s desired capital structure with an equity-to-total-capitalization ratio between 50% and 60%, inclusive of long-term and short-term debt. Our short-term borrowing requirements are driven primarily by construction work in progress and the seasonal nature of the natural gas business.Our short-term borrowing requirements are satisfied through a combination of a $1.5 billion commercial paper program and four committed revolving credit facilities with third-party lenders that provide $2.5 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. On March 31, 2022, we amended this agreement to (i) extend the maturity date from March 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027 and (ii) replace the London interbank offered rate (the LIBOR Rate) with the forward-looking term rate based on the secured overnight financing rate (the SOFR Rate) as the interest rate benchmark. This facility now bears interest at a base rate or at a SOFR-based rate for the applicable interest period, plus a margin ranging from zero percent to 0.25 percent for base rate advances or a margin ranging from 0.75 percent to 1.25 percent for SOFR-based advances, 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. At June 30, 2022 there were no amounts outstanding under our commercial paper program.14
