Reliable financial structure

MMWEC has demonstrated its expertise in financing and providing reliable power to municipal utilities for decades. Under its enabling legislation, as a non-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, MMWEC is authorized to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance energy facilities to meet the needs of its Project Participant utilities. With this authority, MMWEC has issued more than $4.4 billion in bonds to finance and refinance its 720-megawatt ownership in five power plants. Participants in MMWEC's Power Supply Projects include 28 Massachusetts municipal utilities and several non-Massachusetts utilities.

MMWEC Bond-Financed Generation Ownership (click to download chart)

Security for MMWEC bonds is provided through take-or-pay Power Sales Agreements (PSAs) between MMWEC and its Project Participants. The PSAs obligate Project Participants to pay their proportionate share of the debt service on MMWEC bonds, project operating costs and MMWEC administrative costs. The ownership and financial structure for the Stony Brook Intermediate Unit, which is operated and principally owned by MMWEC, includes Joint Ownership Agreements between MMWEC and two Vermont utilities.

MMWEC is planning to use a similar structure in financing Stony Brook Unit 3. A majority of Stony Brook Unit 3 capacity will be owned and financed by MMWEC. At this time, MMWEC is seeking commitments from potential partners to contract for up to 100 megawatts of project capacity as Joint Owners. MMWEC intends to issue an amount of bonds sufficient to finance the PSA share of unit construction costs. Entities with joint ownership in the unit will be responsible individually for financing their share of unit costs, pursuant to the requirements of a Joint Ownership Agreement.