Guam Power Authority to refund $64 million of debt in July

The Guam Power Authority plans to sell about $64 million of revenue refunding bonds in mid-July.

The board of the Guam Consolidated Commission on Utilities on Tuesday approved the deal unanimously. The Guam legislature and Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero have already approved it.

The Guam Public Utilities Commission was expected to approve it Thursday, said GPA general manager John Benavente on Tuesday. The Guam Economic Development Authority is also expected to approve the bonds.

The bonds will refund Series 2014A bonds that have maturities through 2044. The maturity schedule for the Series 2024A bonds has not yet been announced.

Wells Fargo Securities is lead underwriter with BofA Securities its co-manager. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe isbond counsel.

Bank of Guam is the trustee and U.S. Bank, N.A. is the co-trustee.

While the planned bonds have not been rated, the Series 2014A bonds have an underlying rating of Baa2 from Moody’s, BBB from S&P Global Ratings, and BBB from Fitch Ratings. Assured Guaranty Municipal insures at least some of the outstanding bonds.

The power authority is refunding the bonds to lower debt service payments, according to a memo to the Consolidated Commission on Utilities. The authority expects to refinance the existing 5% bonds at around 4.3%, reducing annual interest payments by around $212,000. The refunding could lead to $2.6 million of net present value savings.

The Power Authority refunding comes after the Waterworks Authority refunded some of its bonds earlier this year.

It also comes after Moody’s raised Guam’s GO rating to investment grade in January.