Savings Flow to Borrowers

Savings Flow from Drinking Water Loan Refinancing

The Infrastructure Bank invited borrowers to celebrate $559,826 of debt-service savings from the refinancing of existing Drinking Water State Revolving Fund bonds recently. This transaction is part of the Bank’s strategic efforts to capitalize on the low-interest-rate environment, refinance existing debt and pass on those savings to customers and taxpayers.

Over the last five years, the Bank has provided over $25 million in additional savings for borrowers by proactively refinancing debt at lower interest rates. These savings allow borrowers to make additional investments in critical community assets.

According to Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien, “The City of Pawtucket has made record investments in our local infrastructure, due in part to the innovative, low-cost borrowing programs available through the Infrastructure Bank. The City, and its entities like Pawtucket Water, will continue to seek savings and efficiencies to ensure that our taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck.”

The five borrowers who benefited from this refinancing are:

· The City of Pawtucket: $329,048

· The City of Newport: $25,266

· The City of Woonsocket: $33,048

· Bristol County Water: $23,542

· Providence Water: $148,118

R.I. Infrastructure Summit Panels Announced

Register Now! The 3rd Annual Infrastructure Summit is taking place at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Thursday, September 26 ^th . The Summit brings together hundreds of public and private sector professionals to address state and local infrastructure issues, discuss innovative solutions, and connect with project partners.

The Summit will feature a diverse and exciting line-up of panels and breakout sessions with topics spanning green infrastructure and resilience, economic development, clean energy, and school infrastructure.

Beyond the breakout panels, attendees will hear from former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and Brown University President Christina Paxon. The closing plenary discussion will focus on infrastructure resiliency (“Resilient Infrastructure, the Final Frontier”) with Dr. Louis Gritzo of FM Global, Elle Hempen of The Atlas, and Robert Zarnetske, Town Manager of South Kingstown.

Agenda and event details are available here .

The Rhode Island Difference

While Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank may be the newest member of the international Green Bank Network, there is much that differentiates the Bank from its peers. Infrastructure Bank CEO Jeffrey Diehl sat down with the Green Bank Network to explain RIIB's unique model and broad mandate to make investments that help address the state’s infrastructure and environmental needs.

Roger Baneman, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, asks, “What aspects of your approach do you think are replicable by other states?”

“The creation of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank has been progressive, and in retrospect, it makes a lot of sense. We are a centralized hub of local infrastructure finance. It all started with a decision 30 years ago to put the finance side of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund into a separate agency. This decision and the successful execution of the water SRF programs set the stage for where we are now. Other programs arose from the same SRF model. We are taking it to the next level by combining the different programs into an infrastructure financing suite.”

“We don’t see ourselves as just the money guys,” Jeff concluded, “Rather [we] have the capacity to approach the financing in an integrated way and create efficiencies while promoting resilience, energy efficiency, stormwater planning, and the like as a result”

Read more of Diehl’s interview, here .