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Debt | 6 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2023
Debt Disclosure [Abstract] |
Debt | DebtThe nature and terms of our debt instruments and credit facilities are described in detail in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022. Other than as described below, there were no material changes in the terms of our debt instruments during the six months ended March 31, 2023. Long-term debt at March 31, 2023 and September 30, 2022 consisted of the following:
| March 31, 2023 |  | September 30, 2022
| (In thousands)
Unsecured 0.625% Senior Notes, due March 2023 | $ | — |  |  | $ | 1,100,000 |
Unsecured 3.00% Senior Notes, due June 2027 | 500,000 |  |  | 500,000 |
Unsecured 2.625% Senior Notes, due September 2029 | 500,000 |  |  | 500,000 |
Unsecured 1.50% Senior Notes, due January 2031 | 600,000 |  |  | 600,000 |
Unsecured 5.45% Senior Notes, due October 2032 | 300,000 |  |  | — |
Unsecured 5.95% Senior Notes, due October 2034 | 200,000 |  |  | 200,000 |
Unsecured 5.50% Senior Notes, due June 2041 | 400,000 |  |  | 400,000 |
Unsecured 4.15% Senior Notes, due January 2043 | 500,000 |  |  | 500,000 |
Unsecured 4.125% Senior Notes, due October 2044 | 750,000 |  |  | 750,000 |
Unsecured 4.30% Senior Notes, due October 2048 | 600,000 |  |  | 600,000 |
Unsecured 4.125% Senior Notes, due March 2049 | 450,000 |  |  | 450,000 |
Unsecured 3.375% Senior Notes, due September 2049 | 500,000 |  |  | 500,000 |
Unsecured 2.85% Senior Notes, due February 2052 | 600,000 |  |  | 600,000 |
Unsecured 5.75% Senior Notes, due October 2052 | 500,000 |  |  | — |
Floating-rate Senior Notes, due March 2023 | — |  |  | 1,100,000 |
Medium-term note Series A, 1995-1, 6.67%, due December 2025 | 10,000 |  |  | 10,000 |
Unsecured 6.75% Debentures, due July 2028 | 150,000 |  |  | 150,000 |
Finance lease obligations | 51,133 |  |  | 51,850 |
Total long-term debt | 6,611,133 |  |  | 8,011,850 |
Less: |  |  |
Original issue discount on unsecured senior notes and debentures | 6,271 |  |  | 3,704 |
Debt issuance cost | 50,253 |  |  | 46,042 |
Current maturities of long-term debt | 1,512 |  |  | 2,201,457 |
| $ | 6,553,097 |  |  | $ | 5,760,647 |
On October 3, 2022, we completed a public offering of $500 million of 5.75% senior notes due October 2052, with an effective interest rate of 4.50%, after giving effect to the offering costs and settlement of our interest rate swaps, and $300 million of 5.45% senior notes due October 2032, with an effective interest rate of 5.57%, after giving effect to the offering costs. The net proceeds from the offering, after the underwriting discount and offering expenses, of $789.4 million were used for general corporate purposes. 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. 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 that expires on March 31, 2027. This facility 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 March 31, 2023, there were no amounts outstanding under our commercial paper program. At September 30, 2022, there was $185.0 million outstanding under our commercial paper program. We also have a $900 million three-year unsecured revolving credit facility, which expires March 31, 2025 and is used to provide additional working capital funding. This facility 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 $100 million accordion feature, which provides the opportunity to increase the total committed loan to $1.0 billion. At March 31, 2023 and September 30, 2022, there were no borrowings outstanding under this facility. Additionally, we have a $50 million 364-day unsecured facility, which was renewed April 1, 2023 and is used to provide working capital funding. There were no borrowings outstanding under this facility as of March 31, 2023 and September 30, 2022. Finally, we have a $50 million 364-day unsecured revolving credit facility, which was renewed March 31, 2023 and is used to issue letters of credit and to provide working capital funding. At March 31, 2023, there were no borrowings outstanding under this facility; however, outstanding letters of credit reduced the total amount available to us to $44.4 million. On March 3, 2023, we entered into a term loan agreement for a $2.02 billion senior unsecured term loan facility that would have matured December 31, 2023. The proceeds from the facility, along with cash on hand, were used to repay at maturity on March 9, 2023 our outstanding $1.1 billion senior notes and $1.1 billion floating-rate senior notes. Under the terms of the facility, we were required to prepay the facility prior to maturity upon receiving proceeds from the issuance of certain securities that were part of a utility recovery securitization transaction authorized by the state of Texas. On March 23, 2023, we received those proceeds (see Note 8), and on March 24, 2023 we prepaid the term loan facility, thus terminating the term loan agreement and all obligations thereunder. Debt covenants 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 March 31, 2023, our total-debt-to-total-capitalization ratio, as defined in the agreements, was 40 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 if not paid at maturity. We were in compliance with all of our debt covenants as of March 31, 2023. 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.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -URI https://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2208564 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1B -Subparagraph (h) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495323-112611 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1C -Subparagraph (c) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495334-112611 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1I -Subparagraph (a) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495371-112611 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1I -Subparagraph (d) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495371-112611 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(c)) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120395691&loc=d3e23780-122690 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1B -Subparagraph (g) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495323-112611 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1C -Subparagraph (b) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495334-112611 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1C -Subparagraph (a) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495334-112611 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1E -Subparagraph (b) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495348-112611 Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1B -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495323-112611 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1I -Subparagraph (b) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495371-112611 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1B -Subparagraph (i) -URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123466505&loc=SL123495323-112611 + Details
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