BRADENTON, Fla. - The Tennessee Valley Authority said it priced $1 billion of 50-year global power bonds on Sept. 21 achieving an all-time low interest rate of 4.25%.
Bond proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and provide funds for ongoing capital projects.
The bonds, which are not callable prior to maturity, priced to yield 4.38%.
The yield is the lowest on record for a 50-year bond issued by any corporate or government agency issuer, according to TVA officials.
"TVA had a chance to secure low cost financing for an extended period with interest rates still hovering near all-time lows," said TVA chief financial officer John Thomas.
The deal saw demand from money managers, insurance companies, and other investors, officials said.
The bonds were rated AAA by Fitch Ratings, Aaa by Moody's Investors Service, and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's. All have stable outlooks.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, and TD Securities were joint book-running managers for the transaction.
TVA bonds are federally taxable, although they are exempt from taxation in most states.
The authority is building a second reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in east Tennessee. The project is expected to be completed later this year with commercial operation beginning in June 2016 at a cost of $4 billion to $4.5 billion, according to Fitch.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States but the government does not guarantee its debt. It provides wholesale electricity in portions of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.
