From Bill White --

Chugach Electric Association said it has refinanced $275 million of debt at a weighted average interest rate of 4.57 percent.

The new lending will pay off old debt that was coming due this year and next, the Anchorage power company said. The old debt carried interest rates ranging from 6.2 to 6.55 percent, so Chugach’s annual borrowing costs will fall, the utility said.

Chugach pledged substantially all of its assets as collateral for the new bonds, with the lenders getting a first lien on those assets, Chugach said.

Chugach is the state’s largest electric utility, with residential and business customers in parts of Anchorage. It also sells power to other utilities from Homer to Fairbanks. For example, it generates almost all the power that Matanuska Electric Association sells to its customers.