Note 14. Debt and Financing Obligation

Debt as of January 31, 2018 and October 31, 2017, consisted of the following:

	January 31,			October 31,
	2018			2017
Connecticut Development Authority Note	$	2,287		$	2,349
Connecticut Green Bank Note		6,052			6,052
Financing obligation for sale-leaseback transactions		46,550			46,937
State of Connecticut Loan		10,000			10,000
Hercules Loan and Security Agreement		16,764			21,468
New Britain Renewable Energy Term Loan		1,550			1,697
Equipment financing and capital lease obligations		594			632
Deferred finance costs		(1,272	)		(1,344	)
Total debt	$	82,525		$	87,791
Current portion of long-term debt and financing obligation		(23,513	)		(28,281	)
Long-term debt	$	59,012		$	59,510

The Company has a loan agreement with the Connecticut Development Authority that was used to finance equipment purchases associated with our prior manufacturing capacity expansion. The interest rate is 5.0 percent and the loan is collateralized by the assets procured under this loan as well as $4.0 million of additional machinery and equipment. Repayment terms require monthly interest and principal payments through May 2018.

The Company has a long-term loan agreement with the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority, now known as the Connecticut Green Bank, totaling $5.9 million in support of the Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park project. The loan agreement carries an interest rate of 5.0 percent. Interest only payments commenced in January 2014 and principal payments will commence on the eighth anniversary of the project’s provisional acceptance date, which is December 20, 2021, payable in forty-eight equal monthly installments. Outstanding amounts are secured by future cash flows from the Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park service agreement.

In 2015, the Company entered into the first of a series of agreements with PNC, whereby the Company’s project finance subsidiaries entered into sale-leaseback agreements for commissioned projects where we had entered into a PPA with the site host/end-user of produced power. Under the financing method of accounting for a sale-leaseback, the Company does not recognize as income any of the sale proceeds received from the lessor that contractually constitute payment to acquire the assets subject to these arrangements. Instead, the sale proceeds received are accounted for as financing obligations. The outstanding financing obligation balance as of January 31, 2018 was $46.6 million and the decrease from October 31, 2017 includes lease payments offset by the recognition of interest expense. The sale-leaseback transactions include a fair value purchase option at the end of the lease term.

In November 2015, the Company closed on a definitive Assistance Agreement with the State of Connecticut and received a disbursement of $10.0 million for the first phase of an expansion project to expand the existing 65,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Torrington, Connecticut by approximately 102,000 square feet for a total size of 167,000 square feet. In conjunction with this financing, the Company entered into a $10.0 million Promissory Note and related security agreement securing the loan with equipment liens and a mortgage on its Danbury, Connecticut location. Pursuant to the terms of the loan, principal payments were deferred for the first four years and will begin in November 2019. Monthly interest payments at a fixed rate of 2.0 percent began in December 2015. The financing is payable over 15 years, and is predicated on certain terms and conditions, including the forgiveness of up to half of the loan principal if certain job retention and job creation targets are reached. On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into an amendment to the Assistance Agreement extending certain job creation target dates until October 28, 2019.

In April 2016, the Company entered into a loan and security agreement (the “Hercules Agreement”) with Hercules Capital, Inc. (“Hercules”) subject to certain terms and conditions of which the Company drew down $20.0 million during fiscal year 2016. The loan is a 30 month secured facility and the term loan interest rate was 9.75 percent as of October 31, 2017 and increased to 10.0 percent as of January 31, 2018 resulting from the increase in the prime rate. Interest is paid on a monthly basis. In addition to interest, principal payments commenced on November 1, 2017 in equal monthly installments. The loan balance and all accrued and unpaid interest is due and payable by October 1, 2018. Per the terms of the Hercules Agreement, there is an end of term charge of $1.7 million also due on October 31, 2018, which is being accreted over the 30 month term using the effective interest rate method.

As collateral for obligations under the Hercules Agreement, the Company granted Hercules a security interest in FuelCell Energy, Inc.’s existing and thereafter-acquired assets except for intellectual property and certain other excluded assets. Collateral does not include assets held by FuelCell Energy Finance, LLC (“FuelCell Finance”) or any project subsidiary thereof. The Company may continue to collateralize and finance its project subsidiaries through other lenders and partners. Under the Hercules Agreement, as amended, there is a minimum cash covenant which requires the Company to maintain an unrestricted cash balance in accounts subject to an account control agreement in favor of Hercules of at least the greater of (x) (a) 75% of the outstanding loan balance plus (b) the amount of accounts payable (as defined under GAAP) not paid within 90 days of the invoice date and (y) $10.0 million.

In November 2016, we assumed debt with Webster Bank in the amount of $2.3 million as a part of an asset acquisition transaction. The term loan interest rate is 5.0 percent and payments, which commenced in January 2017, are due on a quarterly basis. The balance outstanding as of January 31, 2018 was $1.6 million.

The Company leases computer equipment under master lease agreements. Lease payment terms are generally thirty-six months from the date of acceptance for leased equipment.

Deferred finance costs relate primarily to sale-leaseback transactions entered into with PNC which are being amortized over the ten-year term and direct deferred finance costs relating to the Hercules Agreement which is being amortized over the 30 month life of the loan.

In July 2014, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, FuelCell Finance, entered into a Loan Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with NRG. Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, NRG has extended a $40.0 million revolving construction and term financing facility for the purpose of accelerating project development by the Company and its subsidiaries. We may draw on the facility to finance the construction of projects through the commercial operating date of the power plants so financed. The interest rate is 8.5 percent per annum for construction-period financing and 8.0 percent thereafter. Fees that were paid by FuelCell Finance to NRG for making the loan facility available and related legal fees incurred were capitalized and are being amortized straight-line over the life of the related loan agreement, which is five years. The term of the loans are up to five years but may be repaid early should the projects be sold or refinanced at the option of the Company. There were no drawdowns or outstanding balances on the Loan Agreement as of January 31, 2018 and October 31, 2017, respectively.