DC Water issued $300 million in tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds yesterday, including $100 million designated as green bonds. The senior-lien bonds sold all in one day, with a 31-year maturity priced to yield 3.19 percent.

The sale was bolstered by DC Water’s strong credit ratings, AAA by S&P Global Ratings, Aa1 by Moody’s Investor Service, and for the green bonds, GB-1 the highest possible green bond assessment by Moody’s. The AAA rating by S&P is the highest a utility can achieve.

Proceeds from the $100 million in green bonds will finance a portion of the $2.7-billion-dollar DC Clean Rivers Project designed to significantly reduce combined sewer overflows into District waterways. The project achieves several green benefits including improving water quality and providing flood mitigation and waterway restoration.

The proceeds from the remaining $200 million of bonds will be used for projects in DC Water’s Capital Improvement Program, to upgrade, repair and replace aging water and sewer infrastructure.

DC Water Interim CEO and General Manager Henderson Brown IV, said, “With this successful bond sale, we continue to steward both the environment and the water and sewer systems we manage for those who live, work and recreate in the District.”

“Investor interest was extraordinarily high,” said Matthew Brown, DC Water’s Chief Financial Officer. “We were oversubscribed by $700 million, enabling us to lock in favorable rates. This bodes well for DC Water and our ratepayers, allowing us to make the necessary improvements to continue delivering critical water and wastewater services at the lowest possible cost.”

Yesterday’s sale marks DC Water’s fourth green bond offering. In 2014, The Authority was the first to issue a green bond in the U.S. debt capital markets certified with an independent third party opinion on sustainability. All of DC Water’s subsequent green bonds have been similarly certified.

In 2017, DC Water issued $300 million in bonds, $100 million of which were green bonds and in 2015, the Authority issued $350 million ($100 million in green bonds). In 2013, DC Water issued $300 million in bonds in a one-day sale.