Peninsula Daily News News Sources
Bonneville Power Administration proposes selling electricity at a reduced rate to Port Townsend Paper Co. and two aluminum smelters.
BPA has proposed selling energy at a rate of $34.60 per megawatt-hour to the Port Townsend paper mill, as well as to the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., based in Columbia Falls, Mont., and the Alcoa Inc. Ferndale plant.
The Franklin County Public Utilities District general manager complained about the rate proposal to the Tri-City Herald. Ed Brost said the rate is significantly lower than what the companies would pay if they bought power on the market or from a local utility district that purchases power from BPA and resells it to consumers.
Wholesale customers
BPA spokeswoman Katie Pruder told the Tri-City Herald that BPA’s wholesale customers usually pay an average rate of $28.77 per megawatt-hour.
But Brost said if the two smelters and paper company had to buy power on the market, they’d likely pay $60 or $70 per megawatt-hour.
“We are against it,” Brost told the newspaper. “Our customers shouldn’t have to subsidize a multinational corporation when they are already struggling to make ends meet.”
No comment was available from the paper mill, which employs about 300 workers. At the end of December, the mill issued a “no comment” policy.
Proust said BPA is providing the companies with industrial-rate power because it values its relationship with the companies.
She said BPA has been doing business with Alcoa since the 1940s and that BPA is “trying to balance the needs of the region.”
Brost said BPA will be selling the power for less than it is worth on the open market, and the loss would have to be made up by public utilities.
Courts have previously ruled that BPA can sell power to direct service industries at an industrial rate. However, a federal appeals court is considering a case that could affect agreements between BPA, the aluminum smelters and the paper company.
