Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

[Press Release issued Friday, 5/14/2010]

Good planning and timing lead to huge savings

Seattle – Seattle City Light and its customer base saved $57 million dollars by refinancing its revenue bonds. Even with a historically low snow-pack year and an economy not seen since the Great Depression, prompt and prudent action by the City Council allowed City Light to retain its premium bond ratings of AA- (Standard and Poor) and Aa2 (Moody’s). Earlier this year, the City Council, Mayor, and City Light’s Superintendent worked together to create the Rate Stabilization Account (RSA), a $100 million dollar reserve fund, to maintain and strengthen City Light’s financial position. The $57 million in savings will go toward building the reserve fund.

“Even though we have faced one of the worst snow-packs in 50 years and the worst recession in 70 years, we were able to develop a strategy of changing our financial policies and chose to refinance about 40% of the Utility’s debt, using the bond market and cutting costs to achieve $57 million in savings. This is great news for City Light and its customers,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell, Chair of the Council’s Energy, Technology and Civil Rights Committee. “This is strong policy work intended to achieve a specific outcome for the people and businesses of Seattle. It worked.”