The New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. plans to issue $475.1 million in green bonds for clean water and drinking water projects throughout the Empire State.
The NYSEFC has scheduled final institutional pricing on $80.9 million of Series 2015B tax-exempt bonds and $30.4 million of Series 2015C federally taxable bonds for Tuesday, July 21. The agency is then scheduled to issue $363.7 million of Series 2015D tax-exempt refunding bonds during the week of Aug. 3. The bonds are rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
Tracey Boyd, the NYSEFC's deputy director of finance, said she is hopeful that the green bond label on these series will help draw investor interest.
Massachusetts became the first state to offer green bonds two years ago and Connecticut held its first all-green bond sale in April to finance wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects.
"We see growing investor interest in purchasing green bonds," said Boyd.
One of the highlights planned from the new issuance, according to Boyd, is directing $45 million toward a homeowner loan program run by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Boyd said the refundings are estimated to produce $22 million in savings.
