WMMPA prices $322 million of bonds

Oct 21

The Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (WMMPA) will close Oct. 29 on more than $322 million in taxable power supply refunding bonds. This sale will be used to refinance existing tax-exempt bonds that WMMPA issued primarily to finance the construction of the Red Rock Hydroelectric Project that is being built in Iowa along with other projects.

“We used lightning speed to get this issue to market,” said WMMPA Financial Advisor Mike Berwanger of Public Financial Management Company. “We were able to capture a phenomenal market that will result in annual debt service savings of $1.9 million per year in each of the next 26 years.” 

This issue of $322,020,000 will have an all-in true interest cost of 3.13 percent, which is the lowest in WMMPA history. The total savings to MRES members will exceed $50 million over the term of the bonds. Net present-value savings will be $33 million, or 11.5 percent of the refunded bonds.