BPA, Aluminum Industry in a Dogfight Over Energy

April 24, 2001, 09:00 AM By Vince Patton and Abe Estimada, KGW

Like two heavyweight boxers bobbing and weaving, the Bonneville Power Administration and the aluminum industry are in a toe-to-toe slug match over the Northwest’s prize resource - energy.

Several weeks after BPA asked the aluminum industry to shut down for two years to help the region duck soaring energy prices, the aluminum industry is firing back with new television ads that say BPA is responsible for the current power troubles.

The TV spots begin running Tuesday.

“Look at why we’re in this mess,” said John Wilson, a spokesman for the Northwest Power Alliance. “We’re in this mess because BPA sold more power than it had. It sold on the fly.”

The Northwest Power Alliance is made up of aluminum companies fighting for its share of energy.

“Help us save affordable electricity and jobs,” said one ad. “We can’t turn out backs on our kids and neighbors. BPA’s forcing us out. They’re looking to make the aluminum industry as the enemy.”

Of the Northwest’s power consumers, the aluminum industry pays the least for gobs of energy. Companies get power for 2.2 cents a kilowatt-hour, while homeowners pay five to six cents.

“The only thing I can conclude is maybe they’re wanting some kind of a special deal,” said BPA spokesman Ed Mosey. “I just don’t think our other ratepayers would go for that. “

In the past, the industry agreed to shut off its power temporarily in case of dire circumstances.

BPA wants the industry to do just that. In a power crunch, BPA doesn’t want to buy energy from the ultra-expensive wholesale market. Doing so will rocket energy rates upward for residents and businesses.

To help ease the industry’s pain, BPA wants to pay aluminum workers their full salaries for two years if the smelters stay shut down and don’t consume energy. The aluminum industry says no deal.

“For some of these communities where BPA is basically asking them to do is sign their own death sentence,” Wilson said.

BPA counters that the alternative is to keep the power going at the smelters but run out of power elsewhere.

“For every single aluminum job that we’ve saved, we’d be putting four other people in the Northwest out of business, simply because other businesses couldn’t afford to operate,” Mosey said.

It appears round one of this protracted fight begins Tuesday.

http://www.kgw.com/kgwnews/oregonwash_story.html?StoryID=18304

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 24, 2001