The New York Power Authority sold more than $1.2 billion in bonds to finance capital expenditures related to the Power Authority’s transmission assets and other capital projects, NYPA reported on May 29.
“This bond sale allows NYPA to continue to modernize and digitize its transmission and generation assets,” Gil Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO, said. “With the Governor’s NY Forward plan underway, NYPA will hit the ground running and continue to support the state with the production and transmission of clean energy.”
The sale, which includes more than $790 million dedicated as Green Bonds, supports the Power Authority in its transmission of clean energy throughout New York and the creation of the future digital grid while meeting the objectives of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), NYPA said.
It noted that the increase in capital will support NYPA in several of its ongoing large capital projects, including:
- Next Generation Niagara
- Moses-Adirondack Smart Path Reliability Project
- Transmission Life Extension and Modernization
- Communications Backbone and Sensors Initiative
The bond sale, which included the sale of approximately $1.1 billion of tax-exempt Series 2020A Bonds and more than $110 million of taxable Series 2020B Bonds, was completed on May 12. The interest rate that NYPA priced at approximately 3.5% is the lowest rate in the history of NYPA.
The rating on the bonds was affirmed in April by all three rating agencies -- Aa1 from Moody’s, AA from S&P and AA from Fitch. Moody’s noted that its rating reflects “the execution of prudent financial management policies that have historically resulted in financial metrics that rank among the strongest of all U.S. public power electric utilities with generation ownership in our rated universe.”
The green bonds, which are specifically earmarked for climate and environmental projects, will accelerate the Power Authority’s progress toward the state’s clean energy and climate goals, including the mandate to obtain 70% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources, as identified in the CLCPA. Sustainalytics has also provided a secondary opinion on the Green Bond designation.
In 2019, NYPA became the first electric utility in North America to achieve a coveted international certification, known as ISO55001, from the International Organization for Standardization for meeting the most rigorous asset management standards..
