Energy Northwest to Issue $635 Million in Revenue Bonds | MuniNet Featured Bond Issue

May 7, 2018 | Municipal Bonds, Municipal Finance

Featured Municipal Bond Issue, Week of May 7th, 2018: Energy Northwest Revenue Bonds – $635 Million

Energy Northwest, a public power joint operating agency in Washington State, is issuing electric revenue refunding bonds in the amount of $635 million the week of May 7th, 2018. Series 2018-C is $629 million in tax-exempt revenue-refunding bonds, and Series 2018-D is $5.8 million in federally-taxable revenue refunding bonds.

The security for each Series is a split pledge of receipts, income, and revenues from two different sources. One is the Columbia Generating Station, an operating nuclear electric generating station, and the other is Project 3, a cancelled nuclear electric generating project, of which Energy Northwest has transferred site properties and facilities for site remediation and economic development. The purpose of the bond proceeds will be to currently refund electric revenue bonds previously issued in 2008-2012 and 2014-2017.

Details on the purposes, tax-status, security, as well as other matters pertaining to these Energy Northwest revenue bonds can be found in the preliminary official statement, available on MuniOS.



The Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station is located 10 miles outside Richland, WA, which makes up part of the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metropolitan Area. As of February 2018, the Keenewick-Richland metro area has an unemployment rate of 7.1%, which is 3% higher than the U.S. rate in February, and 0.6% lower than the unemployment rate as of March 2017, as can be seen in the chart below.

You can find 10-year employment and labor force trends for all 50 states and each Metropolitan Statistical Area in the U.S. in our Employment Database, and more labor sector growth and compensation data on our Job Market page.

Energy Northwest

Energy Northwest

Provided at left (click to expand) is a quick snapshot of financial characteristics of Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station as of 06/30/2017, compared with the 2016-2017 medians for other wholesale electric utilities, courtesy of Merritt Research Services, LLC. Merritt has many of the sector medians publicly available and regularly updated on their Benchmark Central page. (Merritt believes the data to be reliable but does not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness). In addition to the Merritt information related to the featured bond, more information can be found on our municipal bond calendar, city, state, and county pages, and our employment database.

These facts and numbers are for informational purposes, and should not be considered an official disclosure for potential investors. Investors should consult the official statement. None of the information provided should be construed as a recommendation by MuniNet Guide, MuniNet LLC, Merritt Research Services LLC, or any of their employees. Information and analysis is for informational purposes only.

by Jeffrey L Garceau