20070812 Ver 2_Jack Betts Blog_20090409

Alcoa 'incredibly disappointed' with Perdue's action
Subject: Alcoa 'incredibly disappointed' with Perdue's action
From: Susan Massengale <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:04:26 -0400
To: DWQ Clips <[e-mail]>
From Jack Bett's blog
Alcoa 'incredibly disappointed' with Perdue's action
<http://jackbetts.blogspot.com/2009/04/alcoa-incredibly-disappointed-with.html>
Rick Bowen, president of Alcoa's energy operations, has expressed his company's
disappointment with the governor's request to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to support recapturing the company's Yadkin River hydroelectric plants.
Here's his letter:
Dear Governor Perdue:
Alcoa has been doing business in North Carolina for nearly 100 years. We planted
roots here in 1915 and have invested our shareholders' capital to build the
hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River. We continue to contribute millions to the
Stanly County economy each year and remain the county's largest taxpayer.
In light of that background, we are incredibly disappointed that you are pursuing a
government takeover of our business in central North Carolina. While we fully
respect the State's right to ensure that high environmental standards are maintained
in and around the Yadkin River, it is also important to recognize that the
hydroelectric dams were built, maintained, and operated with private funds, not
taxpayer money. We would have preferred to discuss this matter personally with you
before your decision to seek to use taxpayer dollars to displace that private
sector investment.
Over the past six years, we have worked in good faith with the State of North
Carolina in the federal relicensing of the Yadkin Project. The
State's interests were well represented during the relicensing process by both the
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the N.C. Wildlife Resources
Commission, both of which signed the relicensing agreement, along with 21 other
stakeholders, including American Rivers, The Nature Conservancy and the Land Trust
for Central North Carolina.
Alcoa has followed well established state and federal processes from the start, the
same processes deployed by Duke Energy and Progress Energy in their relicensing
efforts. Your intervention comes as the relicensing process is nearly complete and
represents vastly different treatment for Alcoa.
We and our shareholders have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build these
dams without any funding from the State of North Carolina, and we have an obligation
to our shareholders to protect that investment. The state has valid and considerable
interests in the Yadkin River, and there are a myriad of state and federal laws in
place to ensure that North Carolina will continue to control the water there.
As this process moves forward, we hope you will give us the opportunity to talk with
you about our concerns. In addition, we hope that the N.C. Division of Water Quality
will continue to evaluate our application for a water quality permit for the Yadkin
Project based solely on its merits and the precedents previously established by the
State. The Yadkin Project should not be held to a different standard than any other
hydropower project in North Carolina.
We would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to further discuss these
issues at your earliest convenience and will call your office to seek an
appointment. We look forward to discussing this important issue with you in the near
future.
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Alcoa 'incredibly disappointed' with Perdue's action
Sincerely,
Rick Bowen
President - Energy
Alcoa, Inc.
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina
Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
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