Squire Patton Boggs LLP served the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) as co-bond counsel and co-disclosure counsel with Leftwich & Ludaway, LLC on its successful sale of US$350 million of green century bonds. The transaction marked a number of firsts not only for DC Water, but also for the municipal bond market: the first municipal century bonds (i.e., bonds that have a maturity of 100 years) issued by a water/wastewater utility in the US; and the first green bonds in the US municipal market with an independent second party sustainability opinion supporting the green designation. The century bonds were sold as taxable, senior lien, fixed-rate bonds with an interest rate of 4.81% and will reach a final maturity in October 2114.

Proceeds from the century bonds will be put towards financing a portion of the construction and development of DC Clean Rivers Project, a massive US$2.6 billion initiative to construct a tunnel drainage system that will transport combined stormwater and sewage to DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, preventing excess sewage and rainwater from seeping into surrounding waterways.

This week, DC Water also priced a US$100 million issue of tax-exempt, subordinate lien, variable-rate demand bonds, bringing the total sale to US$450 million.

The Squire Patton Boggs team advising DC Water was led by David S. Goodman and Ryan K. Callender.