Net Zero Energy and Grid Reliability Bond Proposal

September 16, 2024 Web Admin

by Darren Springer, General Manager, and Emily Stebbins-Wheelock, CFO/Manager of Strategy & Innovation

In December 2021, Burlington voters approved the nation’s first-ever public power utility Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond to help accelerate climate progress and continue to invest in strong energy reliability for Burlington Electric Department (BED) customers. The $20 million bond was issued in 2022 and, as of July 2024, BED has expended just over $12 million to support:

Increasing grid capacity for more heat pumps and electric vehicles (EVs);
Installation of Burlington’s first modern EV fast charger;
Purchase of the first all-electric bucket truck in the state and numerous other BED fleet EVs to replace fossil fuel vehicles;
Investment in new technology systems and a new customer energy information portal; and
Investment in BED’s renewable energy generation facilities.

BED estimates the current revenue bond funds will be fully invested by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025 or early in FY 2026. (Fiscal years run July 1 to June 30.)

Following the economic disruption of the pandemic, BED’s finances have stabilized and improved in recent years. In FY22 and FY23, BED reported a net income of $1.9 million and $1.6 million, respectively, and preliminary, unaudited (subject to change) net income for FY24 also is projected to be over $1 million. While sales to customers (on a kilowatt-hour basis) have not yet rebounded fully from the pandemic, BED has worked to hold operating expenses as low as possible. BED’s FY24 expenses are projected to be just 8 percent more than FY19 levels, despite inflation rising 23 percent during that same period.

BED has earned an A3 credit rating from Moody’s and, as the public power utility for the City of Burlington, our customers directly benefit through lower interest rates when we issue revenue bonds.

BED is well-positioned for additional revenue bonding to support more investment in grid reliability and climate action, and BED is pleased to present our community with a proposal for a new $20 million Net Zero Energy and Grid Reliability Revenue Bond. Both the Burlington Electric Commission and City Council unanimously approved placing this bond proposal on the November ballot for voter consideration. Importantly, this bond would not impact property taxes and would be repaid solely through BED revenues.

The bond would fund additional investment in key priorities for our utility and community through the end of this decade, including:

Boosting grid capacity to 90 megawatts to handle even more EVs, heat pumps, geothermal systems, electric buses, and other beneficial electrification measures;
Supporting strong grid reliability, which long has been the number one priority for BED customers;
Completing technology systems upgrades to enable more dynamic rates that reduce peak energy usage and make electric heating and transportation more affordable;
Bringing (with grant matching funds) to Burlington 200 new EV charging stations, including 47 fast chargers;
Adding to the BED fleet 12 new EVs, including a second all-electric bucket truck, so we can continue to lead by example; and
Investing further in our renewable generation plants, including relicensing the Winooski One Hydroelectric Facility.

The new revenue bond also would provide potential matching funds for federal and state grants, including for a $4.891 million Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration awarded to BED in August 2024—the first and only such grant in the State of Vermont—and other opportunities under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

When it comes to affordability, assuming we want to make these important investments and maintain strong financial metrics, the new bond will help us do so while reducing near-term pressure on rates. For example, if BED tried to make all the above investments and meet our financial metrics in FY26 without the bond, we could see 12.8 percent of upward rate pressure, compared to just 2 percent when using the bond for financing. Actual rates for FY26 will be determined in the future based on a number of factors, but this example helps illustrate how the bond can reduce rate pressure.

The BED team is proud to serve the City of Burlington and meet our community’s electricity needs reliably and affordably, while working to achieve our ambitious Net Zero Energy climate goal. In that context, we are pleased to present this proposal to the community. We also invite the public to visit burlingtonelectric.com to learn more about the bond proposal, as well as our Energy Assistance Program for income-qualified customers and available rebates to help you save money and switch from fossil fuels to electricity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about BED’s $20 million Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond that voters will see on their November 5, 2024 special election ballot.

Q. What is the Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond?

A. The proposed Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond would provide BED the next tranche of financing to fund continued investment in our critical infrastructure and Net Zero Energy (NZE) Roadmap goals in a way that reduces pressure on BED’s retail rates and annual budgets.

Specifically, the proposed Bond would invest $20 million in the following:

$12.3 million in grid upgrades to our distribution and SCADA/ADMS systems for reliability and to accommodate new loads from electric vehicles (EVs), cold-climate heat pumps, and other strategic electrification measures. These planned projects would bring BED’s grid capacity up to 90 MW from its current level of just over 80 MW.
$1.7 million in technology upgrades to better serve our customers and to offer new dynamic rates to help more customers switch economically from fossil fuels;
$2 million in renewable generation plants, including the FERC relicensing of the Winooski One hydro facility and a woodchip dryer and NoX catalyst replacement at McNeil.
$3.7 million to support, with $4.89 million in matching funds from a federal competitive grant, 200 new EV charging ports including 47 new fast chargers; and procurement of 10 new BED fleet EVs, a new all-electric forklift, and a second all-electric bucket truck for our line crew.
Cost share for other federal grants, including a Department of Energy Grid Resilience & Innovation Partnership grant for thermal load management, expanding the reach of the $20 million from the Revenue Bond to achieve even more.

Q. Will the Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond affect my property taxes?

A. No. The Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond will not impact your property taxes or any other taxes. The Bond would be an obligation solely of Burlington Electric Department and repayable from electric revenues.

Q. How would the Bond affect electric rates?

A. In the near term, the Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond would decrease pressure on electric rates, compared to a scenario where BED tried to raise sufficient cash to make the same investments and maintain its financial metrics without the Revenue Bond. For example in FY26, we project without the bond, to fund all the projects cited would increase rate pressure over 12 percent, compared to upward rate pressure of just 2 percent with the Bond.

Q. Would the Net Zero Energy & Grid Reliability Revenue Bond affect the City’s debt policy or ratio?

A. No. The proposed Bond would not affect the City’s debt policy or debt ratio.

Q. What is the status of BED’s previous $20 million Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond, issued in 2022?

A. BED’s 2022 Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond, which was the first of its kind nationwide for a public power utility, was approved by voters in December of 2021. Since it was issued in April of 2022, it has helped BED invest in grid, generation, technology, and NZE infrastructure upgrades. As of July 31, 2024, BED had expended $12.1M of the $20M construction fund provided by the bonds. The 2022 Bond has helped increase grid capacity from 77 megawatts to 80 megawatts so far. BED expects to invest the remaining funding from the 2022 Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond in capital projects planned for FY25. Some of the improvements funded to-date are:

Distribution system upgrades including new transformers, switches, and reclosers; critical upgrades to our supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system used by grid operators, including new field devices, switches and other network enhancements, servers, video displays, and the initial stages of a major software upgrade to an advanced distribution management system (ADMS); as well as the upgrade, rebuilding, and/or reconductoring of lines and circuits including Scarff Avenue, Appletree Point, Buell Street, Heineberg Road, Edgemoor Drive, Lyman Avenue, Sunset Cliff, Ethan Allen Parkway, Austin Drive, Battery Street, Booth Street, Loomis Street, Pleasant Street, Fern Hill, Killarney Drive, North Street, and School Street.
Technology upgrades including our new meter data management system (MDMS) with grid analytics modules that add new capabilities for transformer loading, line loss analysis, and voltage analysis; our new customer portal, which now gives customers detailed usage information and online payment and bill-viewing functionality in a single platform; and necessary upgrades to BED’s advanced metering infrastructure, disaster recovery, and backup systems.
Generation and NZE infrastructure upgrades including capital improvements at the Winooski One hydro facility and the McNeil Generating Station; investment in public EV charging infrastructure, including Burlington’s first modern DC fast charger located at 585 Pine Street, a level 2 charger at Oakledge Park, and a new DC fast charger in the Marketplace Garage; and BED electric fleet vehicle purchases, including matching funds (with a state grant) for the first all-electric bucket truck in the State of Vermont.

Q. Why does BED need an additional $20 million in financing?

A. BED’s customers expect strong system reliability, and our community has expressed a strong desire for climate initiatives and actions including increased use of EVs, heat pumps, geothermal, electric transit, and more. To achieve these aims BED needs additional revenue bond funding to make the investments in our robust capital program, which supports high reliability and innovation toward our Net Zero Energy goal. The Bond will invest in our distribution system and help increase capacity for more EVs, heat pumps and other strategic electrification efforts. It will keep our generation plants in good working order including by support the relicensing of Winooski One hydro. The Bond will also help BED support and retain our knowledgeable workforce by procuring safe and modern tools and equipment. And the Bond will, with federal matching funds, make a generational investment in EV charging stations in Burlington with a focus on equity and access for all.

While BED has access to annual general obligation (GO) borrowing, set in City Charter at $3 million in 2012, that amount no longer covers the majority of BED’s capital needs as it used to due in part to increased inflation and labor costs for projects. As capital costs increase, the annual $3 million GO bond is projected to fund only 27-36% of total annual capital needs for FY25 and beyond, not counting other demands on cash reserves such as strategic electrification incentive funding. In 2021 when BED proposed its first NZE revenue bond, we noted that the gap between the size of BED’s annual capital program (net of customer contributions) and BED’s $3 million annual GO bond allocation would result in “pressure on BED’s annual budget, retail rates, and cash position to fully fund capital projects and Net Zero Energy initiatives” without new financing capacity.

Q. When will BED issue the Revenue Bond? Interest rates are still quite high!

A. BED is monitoring the interest rate and municipal bond market closely, and will work with its financial advisors to time the issuance of the new bond to coincide as closely as possible with a more favorable interest rate environment and the full expenditure of the prior revenue bond’s construction fund. By obtaining voter approval of the bond issuance now, BED will have the flexibility to issue the bond when the time is right.

Q. How will BED repay the Revenue Bond?

A. The debt service on the proposed bond, subject to the final interest rate, is projected to be approximately $800,000 per year for the first five years and approximately $1.8 million per year thereafter. BED has nearly $700,000 of existing revenue bond debt service reaching maturity in 2025 and another approximately $1 million of revenue bond debt service maturing in FY2032, freeing up debt service capacity to help with repayment of the Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond.