Ballard Spahr served as underwriters’ counsel in connection with a bond financing for the City of Philadelphia to fund a $91 million project to replace all of its 130,000 streetlights—the largest energy conservation project in its history.
The new LED streetlights will provide brighter light and are expected to help deter crime. They will be monitored remotely, eliminating the need for residents to report outages. The new streetlights are estimated to result in a 50 percent reduction in energy use and a 10 percent reduction of the municipal government’s carbon emissions.
The project, which was initiated in 2006, is financed by bonds issued by the Philadelphia Energy Authority. Although the bonds are general obligation debt, City officials have said the energy savings will cover the debt service on the bonds.
Public Finance Group Co-Leader Valarie J. Allen, Of Counsel Skye Nickalls, and Associate Peter Kim—all members of the firm’s national Finance Department—represented Wells Fargo Securities and the other underwriters for the bonds.
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