Alcoa and Santee Cooper Spar Over Power Bill

The lead story in the Post and Courier this morning was aluminum company Alcoa warning that it needs an affordable power bill or its hitting the road.

Local plant manager Mike Rosseau told the paper its hard to transfer an increased cost for production into the sale price for the aluminum.

"The price is pretty well set, and it becomes difficult to pass costs, such as price increases with electricity, on to our customers," he said. "We just have no way to do that."

Power company Santee Cooper seemed to downplay concerns, with spokeswoman Laura Varn suggesting that there is enough time to negotiate a deal.

According to its website, the 6,500-acre local Alcoa site produces 235,000 tons of aluminum product every year. It would seem odd to see the company leave what it calls "the most advanced plant of its kind in the United States, a pacesetter in production efficiency, energy utilization and environmental protection."