5.1. SR 07-13-2009phone: 763.441.2020
13069 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330 fax: 763.441.8099
July 9, 2009
To: Elk River City Council and Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
From: Troy Adams
Subject: Utilities’ Electric Resource Planning Opportunities Follow-Up
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On July 8 the Utilities Commission held a special meeting to review and consider Elk River Municipal
Utilities’ participation in the Big Stone II (BSII) power plant project. The commission packet is
enclosed for your review. The action taken at this meeting was to not participate in Big Stone II by a
vote of 3-0.
Through this scheduled joint Council/Commission meeting, the Utilities Commission and staff are
available to elaborate on the Commission’s decision to not participate in BSII. No action is requested
from the Council.
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Big Stone II Amortization Examples
July 8, 2009
I. Home Mortgage Example
To illustrate how the capital cost of the Big Stone II project will be amortized, consider the
similar example of a home mortgage:
The home has a 30 year mortgage of $123,000 at 5.5%/year interest rate. The monthly payments
will be:
$123,000 * (A/P, 360 months, 5.5%/12) = $689.38 per month.
The mortgage payment of $698.38 per month includes payment of the principal and payment of
interest.
The payments of principal and interest in any particular year are illustrated below:
Annual Payments on a $123,000 Mortgage,
30 years at 5.5% per year
$9,000
$8,000
Payments
$7,000
toward
$6,000
Interest
principal
$5,000
Annual Payments
$4,000
$3,000
Interest
$2,000
$1,000
$0
Year
Over the 30 year period:
Total of monthly payments = 360 * $689.38 per month = $248,177
Payments toward principal = ($123,000)
Interest = $125,177
II. Big Stone II Debt Payments Example
The pattern of payments on the Big Stone II project will be very similar to a home mortgage in
the previous example.
Assume that a 30 Megawatt ERMU share of BSPII would cost $123 million, and would be
financed with a 30 year bond at 5.5%/year interest rate. The monthly payments will be:
$123 million * (A/P, 360 months, 5.5%/12) = $689,380 per month.
Similar to our home mortgage example, the mortgage payment of $698,380 per month includes
payment of the principal and payment of interest.
The payments of principal and interest in any particular year are illustrated below:
Annual Payments on a $123,000,000 Bond,
30 years at 5.5% per year
$9,000,000
$8,000,000
Payments
$7,000,000
toward
$6,000,000
Interest
principal
$5,000,000
Annual Payments
$4,000,000
$3,000,000
Interest
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$0
Year
Over the 30 year period:
Total of monthly payments = 360 * $689,380 per month = $248,177,000
Payments toward principal = ($123,000,000)
Interest = $125,177,000
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From: Johnson, Lori
Sent: Thursday, Jul 09 2009 12:04 PM
To: ' 'Beck, Peter K.'
Cc: Simon, Tim
Subject: ERMU Bonding
John & Peter;
I know this is a bit after the fact, but confirming that our assumptions were correct is
reassuring and this is important information for the Commission and Council to know.
Here is what Mark had to say about the questions I posed to him:
1. ERMU would find it "very difficult to impossible" to issue additional debt for its own
projects because of the BSII debt. ERMU would be in limbo without the ability to issue
additional debt unti12016. If the BSII plant became operational at the expected levels in
2016 as planned, ERMU could possibly issue debt after 2016 if the revenue coverage was
sufficient.
2. The city's bond rating would not immediately change. However, the rating agencies
would put us on a "watch" status. Some bond purchasers/underwriters would be scared off
by the BSII debt. If anything at all appeared wrong or shaky with the BSII project, our bond
rating would drop. Further, we have worked very hard for the last 20 years to increase our
bond rating. We would not be upgraded with BSII debt on our books.
Please let me know if you have questions on this information. John, since I won't be at the
meeting on Monday, please share this information with the Council.
Lori
Lori Johnson ~ City of Elk River ~ 13065 Orono Parkway ~ Elk River, MN 55330 ~
763.635.1000 Office (763.635.1090 Fax ~ www. ci. elk-river. mn. us