Alcoa to sell its electricity
John Stucke - Staff writer
Alcoa Inc. became the latest aluminum company to curb metal production in favor of selling electricity in the Northwest.
The Pittsburgh-based company on Friday announced it would cut aluminum production by 150,000 metric tons this year at its Wenatchee and Ferndale smelters.
Company spokeswoman Bonnie Cersosimo said the cutbacks allow Alcoa to resell about 150 megawatts of electricity from its Wenatchee plant to the federal Bonneville Power Administration.
At Ferndale, where the company is a 61-percent owner of the Intalco plant, the company reshaped its contract with BPA to stretch two months worth of power over the four-month period of January through April.
The price Alcoa is netting for the 150 megawatts will not be disclosed, said BPA spokesman Ed Mosey.
"If we say what the price is, that becomes the floor for the next deal we need," Mosey said. "Obviously, companies are looking for the best prices and (BPA) is looking for the lowest price."
That lowest cost is still plenty, as electricity prices have shot up from a year ago.
BPA has been buying electricity back from aluminum companies at much higher rates to fulfill its contractual obligations.
The Alcoa deal, however, is different than other aluminum company cutbacks.
No workers will be laid off.
There are 645 Alcoa employees at Wenatchee. All will remain working even as the smelter cuts capacity by 80,000 metric tons this year.