Grant PUD refinances some debt
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 10 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | June 3, 2020 12:15 AM
EPHRATA — Grant County PUD will save an estimated $3.1 million in interest payments on its debt in 2020 and about $52 million in interest payments through 2044, according to Bonnie Overfield, PUD treasurer.
Some of the savings resulted from transactions made by the utility’s financial department in March, said Overfield as part of a review of the PUD’s first quarter financial results at the May 26 commission meeting.
The PUD pays for projects by issuing bonds, which are paid back with interest. In March the PUD’s financial team refinanced some of the bonds, dropping interest rates from 5 percent to between 2.6 and 3 percent.
Overfield said PUD officials had the money on hand to refinance the debt when interest rates dropped in March.
Utility district officials paid off about $190.7 million of the PUD’s debt in January. Currently, there is about $1.3 billion in outstanding debt. Utility district officials are using the money to pay for upgrades to, or replacement of, turbines and generators at Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams, a project that should be completed by about 2028.
Other projects funded through the bonds include improving fish passage and upgrades to the electrical system.
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