'Sensitive' talks held by BPA, Kaiser over smelter electricity

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SPOKANE - Kaiser Aluminum Corp. and the Bonneville Power Administration are trying to settle a dispute over electricity to power Kaiser's idled smelters.

Neither side would comment on the subject of the negotiations, but spokesmen said Tuesday there could be a development as early as this week.

New five-year contracts with the BPA's major power users took effect Monday, but Kaiser's did not include provisions that call for the federal power marketer to pay laid-off employees' salaries for up to two years in exchange for the right to sell electricity not being used by idled smelters in Spokane and Tacoma.

"The talks have been going on for a long time, and the talks are sensitive," BPA spokesman Bill Murlin said from the federal agency's headquarters in Portland.

- The Associated Press