It costs a lot to
buy electricity needed to run an aluminum smelter, which is why Kaiser Aluminum
Corporation is shutting down its Mead smelter near Spokane. The company says it will also benefit from the region's current tight supplies and high prices for electricity. It is selling back to the Bonneville Power Administration for about $500 electricity it bought for $22 a megawatt.
Kaiser says the $52 Million it will net from the sale will be used to mitigate impacts of laying off 400 employees and to buy power next year. The United Steelworkers union says Kaiser is profiteering from the sale of public power.
BPA spokesman Ed Mosey says $500 a megawatt hour is about the going rate and the Kaiser power will be used to alleviate a tight energy situation.