PPL Electric Utilities has exercised an option to extend the maturity of its existing $200 million revolver by one year. The extension allows the Allentown, Pa., utility to maintain a five-year tenor for the line, which it obtained as a five-year facility June 22 last year, said Jim Matteo, structured finance manager for the parent company PPL Corp.
he utility plans on using the credit line primarily as a credit backstop for its commercial paper program, although it may also be used to issue letters of credit for working capital purposes, Matteo says. The revolver is led by Wachovia Capital Markets.
The revolver was originally due to expire in June 2009 and now expires in June 2010. The loan was priced at 50 basis points over LIBOR based on the company's senior secured long-term debt rating, which currently stands at Baa1 from Moody's Investors Service and A- from Standard & Poor's.