Less than 2 years until a major war with China & they want this nation to go there without aluminum:
BPA chief asks aluminum industry to virtually shut itself down
Monday, April 9, 2001
By WILLIAM MCCALL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Northwest drought is so dire that the aluminum industry should virtually shut itself down for two years to save power, the acting director of the Bonneville Power Administration recommended Monday.
Steven Wright said the second-worst Northwest drought in 72 years means the region faces a tripling to a quadrupling of wholesale electricity prices beginning Oct. 1 unless radical cuts in power consumption are made.
"An increase of this magnitude would have widespread economic consequences," Wright said. "With such an increase, we'd surely see more businesses close and more job losses."
At a press conference, Wright also asked public utilities in the region to voluntarily cut back their power purchases from Bonneville by 5 percent to 10 percent. He asked private utilities to do the same.
He also said Northwest residents and businesses should adopt a strict conservation plan to save the region from having to buy more electricity on the open market later this year.
"We're all in this together," Wright said. "That's the diffculty."
Bonneville, based in Portland, is a federal agency that markets almost half the electricity in the Northwest. It produces about 8,000 megawatts of power, much of it from 29 hydroelectric dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Wright said Bonneville may have to buy up to another 3,000 megawatts of power on the open market to honor its contracts when the BPA puts new rates into effect on Oct. 1 at the start of the next federal fiscal year.
The BPA estimates the aluminum industry could save the region half of that power -- 1,500 megawatts -- by idling smelters.
Wright also recommended that aluminum companies accept "limited compensation" from Bonneville to cover some of their costs and pay laid off workers to cushion the economic impact. Otherwise, the industry faces a huge rate hike, he said.(cont)
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