Kaiser catches Locke's attention
Protesters greet governor before transportation summit
Jim Camden - Staff writer
Kaiser Aluminum wants Gov. Gary Locke to support its efforts for a better rate deal from the Bonneville Power Administration.
So with Locke scheduled to address the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce transportation summit at lunch on Thursday, some 40 Kaiser Mead managers and office staff lined a downtown intersection urging him to "Act Now" to save aluminum jobs.
Locke should make it easier for new power plants to be built and back Kaiser's plan for different levels, or tiers, of electricity rates, said Larry Dow, a human resources manager from the smelter who was acting as the protesters' spokesman.
Emerging from a car in front of the Spokane Club where the summit was meeting, Locke took one of their neon green leaflets and promised to read it. "Hang in there," he shouted, while exchanging thumbs-up signs with the crowds on the corner.
But during a press conference inside, Locke made it clear that he and Kaiser have different views of a good outcome.
The BPA wants the aluminum smelters to shut down for as much as two years to have power for other customers. Kaiser wants the BPA to charge all customers the lower rates for the first 75 percent of their traditional power needs and a higher or market rate for remaining needs.
Locke suggested Kaiser and the BPA should negotiate a deal similar to the agreement the power agency reached with Alcoa, another aluminum producer, on Wednesday.
"That's the type of negotiation I'd like to see," Locke said.
But the BPA already has said it will not offer a similar agreement to Kaiser, at least not unless the company shares the proceeds from the power it has been selling since shutting down smelter lines.
At the transportation summit, Locke made a plea of his own for something he wants and the Legislature has yet to approve.
Two weeks ago he proposed a transportation package that includes a surcharge on commercial trucks, an increase on vehicle sales taxes and increases in the state gas tax. It would require 85 percent of the taxes raised in a region to be spent there, and allow different regions to impose their own taxes that would be completely spent there.
The state Senate has approved much of that plan, but the House has yet to vote on it.
"We do not need any more commissions and any more studies," Locke said.
If legislators think it goes too far, or not far enough, they should amend it on the floor, he said. "Let's take it issue by issue," he said. "But bring it up for a vote."