5. CREDIT FACILITIES

LC Facility

On March 26, 2021, we amended our revolving credit facility with Hancock Whitney Bank (“Whitney Bank”), which previously provided for up to $40.0 million of borrowings or letters of credit, had a maturity date of June 30, 2022, included certain quarterly financial covenants and restrictions on our ability to take certain actions, and was secured by substantially all of our assets with a negative pledge on our real property. In connection with the amendment, the facility was modified to remove our ability to make cash borrowings and provides for up to $20.0 million of letters of credit, subject to our cash securitization of future letters of credit and the full amount of outstanding letters of credit, and the maturity date was extended to June 30, 2023. The amended letter of credit facility (“LC Facility”) removed all financial covenants and other restrictions, as well as the pledge of all our assets and the negative pledge on our real property.  Commitment fees on the unused portion of the LC Facility are 0.4% per annum and interest on outstanding letters of credit is 2.0% per annum. At December 31, 2020, we had $10.7 million of outstanding letters of credit under the LC Facility.

Loan Agreement

On April 17, 2020, we entered into an unsecured loan in the aggregate amount of $10.0 million (“PPP Loan”) with Whitney Bank pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which is sponsored by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), and is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), as amended by the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (“Flexibility Act”). The PPP provides for loans to qualifying businesses, the proceeds of which may only be used for payroll costs, rent, utilities, mortgage interest, and interest on other pre-existing indebtedness (the “Permissible Expenses”).  The PPP Loan may be prepaid at any time prior to maturity with no prepayment penalties.  The PPP Loan, and accrued interest, may be forgiven partially or in full, if certain conditions are met.  The most significant of the conditions are:

The PPP Loan matures on April 17, 2022, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.0 percent per annum and is payable in monthly installments commencing on the earlier of the date on which the amount of loan forgiveness is determined or March 17, 2021.  During the Covered Period the PPP Loan proceeds were used only for Permissible Expenses, of which approximately 93% was related to payroll costs.  On September 29, 2020, we submitted our application to Whitney Bank, requesting PPP Loan forgiveness of $8.9 million.  Whitney Bank approved our application for forgiveness on December 14, 2020, and our application was forwarded to the SBA for review.  As of the filing of this Report, we have not received an approval or denial of our application for forgiveness from the SBA; in the absence of such action and based on guidance we received from our external advisors, we have taken the position that the date for commencement of loan payments has not yet occurred, and we have made no loan payments. Because the amount borrowed exceeded $2.0 million, the PPP Loan and our loan forgiveness application is subject to audit by the SBA. Any portion of the PPP Loan that is not forgiven, together with accrued interest, will be repaid based on the terms and conditions of the PPP Loan and in accordance with the PPP as amended by the Flexibility Act, unless the SBA were to determine that we were not eligible to participate in the PPP, in which case the SBA could seek immediate repayment of the PPP Loan. While we believe we are a qualifying business and have met the eligibility requirements for the PPP Loan, and believe we have used the loan proceeds only for Permissible Expenses, we can provide no assurances that we will be eligible for forgiveness of the PPP Loan, in whole or in part. Accordingly, we have recorded the full amount of the PPP Loan as debt, which is included in long-term debt, current and long-term debt, noncurrent on our Balance Sheet at December 31, 2020.  The current and noncurrent debt classification is based on the terms and conditions of the PPP Loan and in accordance with the PPP as amended by the Flexibility Act, and timing of required repayment absent any loan forgiveness.  We intend to reflect the benefit of any loan forgiveness if, and when, our loan forgiveness application is approved by the SBA and after we have reasonable assurance from the SBA that we have met the eligibility and loan forgiveness requirements of the PPP.

Surety Bonds

We issue surety bonds in the ordinary course of business to support our projects.  At December 31, 2020, we had $291.2 million of outstanding surety bonds.