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» Blog Archive » Commissioners Comment on Status of Alcoa Negotiations - 1 views

  • Alcoa has stated they will provide financial assurances (up to $1.2 million) for the life of the license.  However, Alcoa has failed to inform the public these assurances are not worth the paper they are written on without sufficient enforcement measures included in the agreement.  Alcoa has refused to accept any language we have put forth that would provide sufficient remedies for the County to receive “financial assurances”, if Alcoa does not live up to its end of the bargain.
  • In fact, the proposal Alcoa presented includes an escape clause for any responsibilities due from the company, but it does not allow for review of the hydroelectric license once the license has been awarded.
  • As Alcoa’s latest offer stands, there is no efficient or cost effective way for the County to hold Alcoa accountable for its promises of jobs and investment
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  • This is not “compelling”… it is unreasonable.
  • It is not proper for parties to share incomplete information via the press in these types of proceedings until the discussions yield an agreement or officially cease.  Neither has occurred.
  • From the beginning, the County’s goals have been to ensure: (1) that the river is environmentally protected for generations to come, (2) that the use of water from the Yadkin River is best determined by citizens of North Carolina, and (3) that the flow of the river is used to maximize the impact of its resources for the benefit of its citizens.  
  • The goal of environmental protection is being addressed in the state 401 water quality permit process and includes the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Alcoa/APGI, Stanly County and the Yadkin Riverkeeper.
  • he County believes its intervention in this process will lead to numerous water quality improvements.
  • (1) The Board of Commissioners is legally responsible for the public health and well-being of its citizens.  These basic environmental protection measures will lead to cleaner surface and ground water for our citizens now and for generations to come.  It is impossible to put a price tag on the value of one citizen’s life or well-being.   (2) The value of water will only increase as growth demands in the Charlotte region, Piedmont Triad and along the I-85 corridor strain our available water resources.  Regional organizations to the east and west of the Yadkin River basin are planning for water use over the coming decades and our citizens need to be doing the same. (3) The water of the Yadkin belongs to the people and has tremendous value from an electrical generation perspective.  The benefits should not simply be given away to a global corporation to support its operations in other states and foreign countries. This simply transfers wealth out of our community and that is unacceptable. 
  • The County is seeking fair and reasonable compensation for the long-term use of the river.
  •   However, without long-term financial assurances these jobs and the associated taxable investment will remain over the course of a 30, 40 or 50 year license term, it would not be wise to simply drop our reasonable demands.
  •   Should our citizens accept a static amount for a settlement when the value of the resource will increase exponentially over the term of the license?
  • We, as Commissioners, will continue to seek the best outcome for Stanly County.
  • I’m so proud of (and awed by) the Commissioners for thinking of the bigger picture and the long term needs of the community. This is nothing short of blackmail — and failing that, bribery! –on Alcoa’s part. The only reason they’ve ever offered anything is because of the Commissioner’s strong stand against a massive corporate giveaway. Good for you Commissioners! I salute you.
  • Stanly County upheld its end of the bargain for 50 years. It’s time to reclaim use of the water for the betterment of all Yadkin Valley communities. Looks to me like Alcoa is the one stalling, not the commissioners.
  • We must put our fate in our own hands not with a corporation who has no responsibility to our region or our state.
  • I applaud the Commissioners’ continued resolve to do what is in the best interests of our citizens. Future prosperity in Stanly County depends on the Yadkin hydropower. Since the beginning of time, communities have only thrived because of their access to water …for drinking, recreation, trade and fuel. Had our water not been under the control of Alcoa for the last 50 years, we would be in much better shape economically. By leveraging the Yadkin hydropower, we could have already replaced our lost manufacturing jobs with higher paying jobs that reflect the needs of the 21st century. We would be absolute fools to once again relinquish control of our waters to Alcoa for another 50 years. We need to reserve the flexibility to control our own destiny—not “outsource” it to a multinational corporation that has a poor record of stewardship and corporate responsibility in our region.
  • “Since the operation of the Badin smelting works is dependent upon the availability of power supply, Carolina Aluminum must regard its smelting activities at Badin to be limited to the term of the license of the Yadkin Project, which is its source of power supply. In formulating its plans, and weighing the advisability of the $37,000,000 program, the management of Carolina Aluminum had to assume, therefore, that power would be available from the Yadkin Project at economically feasible rates only during the original license term. Under Section 14 of the Act, any project may be “recaptured” at the expiration of the license term. In formulating its plans, therefore, the management of Carolina Aluminum could not rely upon any assured source of power supply after the expiration of its license for the Yadkin Project”
  • The “project properties” are held in trust by the Government for the people. It is the “project properties” that a multi-national, foreign controlled, private enterprise is trying to “hijack” away from “we the people”.
  • Alcoa has never owned “the riverbed”. The do pay taxes in an attempt to lay claim to the riverbed. The state constitution and federal law does not support their claim. With that said, refer back to the 1958 license agreement. Alcoa gave up rights to the submerged land “the project property” in exchange for the monopoly use of the water as free fuel for a guaranteed profit for 50 years. Article 14 of the The Federal Power Act clearly spells out the option Alcoa gave the Federal Government in exchange for the use of the “peoples waters”.
Yadkin River

Alcoa, CPI Announce Letter Of Intent To Develop Joint Venture Producing High End Alumin... - 0 views

  • CPI President Lu Qizhou added, “I am excited to see our partnership taking a further step. Deeper cooperation in high-end aluminum fabrication will definitely broaden the space for both companies' development and accelerate our
  • common endeavor to move forward.”
  • About CPI China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is one of the five Gencos in China and a comprehensive energy group integrating industries of power, coal, aluminum, railway and port. It is the only enterprise in China possessing assets in hydropower, thermal power, nuclear power and new energies at the same time, and is one of the three companies in China that are authorized to develop, build and operate nuclear power plants. By the end of 2010, CPI had installed capacity of 70.72GW, of which 17.74GW was hydropower, which ranked first among the five Gencos. Clean energy accounted for 30% of the total portfolio, the highest among the five Gencos. Meanwhile, CPI had coal production capacity of 72.75 million tons and aluminum production capacity of 2.08 million tons.
Yadkin River

Hydroelectricity: Definition from Answers.com - 0 views

  • Barnes, Marla. "Tracking the Pioneers of Hydroelectricity." Hydro Review 16 (1997): 46.Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Hydroelectric Power Resources of the United States: Developed and Undeveloped. Washington, 1 January 1992.———. Report on Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures, and Regulations: Comprehensive Review and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 603 of the Energy Act of 2000. Washington, May 2001.Foundation for Water and Energy Education. Following Nature's Current: Hydroelectric Power in the Northwest. Salem, Oregon, 1999.Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and United States Department of Energy—Idaho Operations Office. Hydroelectric Power Industry Economic Benefit Assessment. DOE/ID-10565.Idaho Falls, November 1996.———. Hydropower Resources at Risk: The Status of Hydropower Regulation and Development 1997. DOE/ID-10603.Idaho Falls, September 1997.United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. Annual Energy Review 2000. DOE/EIA-0384 (2000).Washington, August 2001.United States Department of Energy—Idaho Operations Office. Hydropower: Partnership with the Environment. 01-GA50627. Idaho Falls, June 2001.
Yadkin River

watt: Definition from Answers.com - 0 views

  • The derivative units are kilowatt (1,000 W; kW) and megawatt (1,000,000 W; MW), used in electric power systems,
  • U.S. nuclear power plants have net summer capacities between about 500 and 1300 MW.[7]
Yadkin River

Whose water is it anyway!? - 0 views

  • COALITION OF CITIZENS, POLITICIANS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS BATTLE ALCOA TO RETURN THE YADKIN RIVER TO THE PEOPLE
  • “The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life,” Roosevelt told Congress in 1907.
  • Naujoks referred to Teddy Roosevelt’s well known opposition to corporate monopolies and his firm belief the nation’s natural resources belong to the people. Naujoks cited Roosevelt’s philosophy to highlight the disparity between the legendary president’s philosophy and FERC’s policies
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  • Gov. Beverly Perdue officially came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition — a group of local businessmen, citizens and politicians who oppose Alcoa’s re-licensing efforts — last September and her influence has proved invaluable to the cause.
  • The governor’s office filed papers with the FERC “seeking return of the right to plan the use of the Yadkin River flows and the Yadkin hydroelectric project for the benefit of the people of North Carolina,” according to a press release
  • Recapturing the water rights to the Yadkin is essential to the health and well being of the citizens of the nearly 25 counties that comprise the Yadkin River Basin, Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • The Badin Works aluminum smelting plant did bring 1,000 jobs to the area after Alcoa applied for its water rights license in 1958. But Alcoa, a multi-billion dollar corporation and the world’s largest producer of aluminum, ceased operations at the plant in 2007. The plant employed only 377 people when it shut down, said Alcoa spokesman Gene Ellis.
  • One of the first legislators to take their side was NC Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr., who represents Cabarrus and Iredell counties. Hartsell came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition two years ago after meeting with Dick, Jim Nance, a former board member of the NC Department of Transportation, and Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant at his legislative offices in Raleigh.
  • But after he studied the Federal Power Act, he became fascinated with the issue of Alcoa attempting to maintain its monopoly over the 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin. Convinced of the appropriateness of the coalition’s cause, Hartsell signed on and recruited fellow Republican state senator, Stan Bingham.
  • “As far as I’m concerned, Alcoa got the gold mine and we got the shaft,” Bingham said
  • “The little town of Denton is having to pay [Alcoa] for the use of the water coming down the Yadkin for drinking,” Bingham said. “The way that’s calculated is they charge because it’s a loss of power generation…. This whole thing was done many, many years ago, and a lot of people didn’t think about the people they were dealing with at the time.”
  • “Alcoa and others keep talking about it being a ‘taking’ [of property],” Hartsell said. “It’s not a taking; it’s not even close to it. All we’re asking Alcoa to do is to fulfill the obligations that were identified in 1958 that they agreed to.”
  • “They acknowledged when the license was up, they no longer had the right to use the property,” Hartsell explained. “We’re saying there needs to be an equivalency for the run of our river, and when I say ‘our,’ I mean everybody’s. It’s not a private entity. The feds and the state have had control of the run of the rivers since the beginning of the republic.” The language of the Federal Power Act includes a stipulation that the controlling entity, in this case Alcoa, must estimate the recapture value of the resource in the event it must surrender the rights to that resource, Hartsell said. “There is a statutory formula for how you calculate recapture and Alcoa computed it to be $24.2 million in 2006,” Hartsell said.
  • Yadkin River Trust Bil
  • The bill clearly outlines the three primary issues at stake — A) who controls the waters of the Yadkin for the next 50 years; B) the environmental issue related to the condition or quality of the water itself and the immediate environs; and C) the use of the electricity generated by the run of the river.
  • “[Alcoa] signed an agreement. We’re just asking them to live up to their own word,” he said. “The state of North Carolina intervened 50 years ago on Alcoa’s behalf to assist them to get a 50-year license and operate the plant at Badin, but conditions have changed dramatically. If they’re going to use it, what is the return to the people of the state on the state’s investment in the raw material, which is the water? That water is owned by the people.”
  • Alcoa’s re-licensing application represents “the mother of all incentives,” Hartsell said. “They want the state to concede they should have $1 billion in benefit over the next 50 years and provide nothing to the state,” he said.
  • “Why should we give it away?” Hartsell continued. “From an economic development perspective, energy is the major issue associated with job growth and development regardless of the industry.”
  • He pointed out that Alcoa is capitalizing on the hydroelectric energy generated by the Yadkin by selling electricity “on the grid” rather than investing in the local communities.
  • “We’re dealing with John Dillinger and Al Capone,” Bingham said. “Alcoa reaps [millions] in profits each year and North Carolina gets zilch.”
  • An environmental study commissioned by Stanly County and conducted by professor John Rodgers of Clemson University last year established a connection between contami nation of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in fish and soil samples taken from Badin Lake near Alcoa’s Badin Works operation. Rodgers’ findings led the Yadkin River Coalition to appeal the waterquality certification issued by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or DENR. Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster granted an injunction on May 26 prohibiting DENR from issuing a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa until the full appeal is heard.
  • The state issued a fish-consumption advisory for Badin Lake between Stanly and Montgomery counties last February due to elevated levels of PCBs found in largemouth bass and catfish
  • Alcoa attempted to block the advisory by filing a legal appeal. The company claimed that the state “changed its stated evaluation criteria after the study was complete and held Badin Lake to a different standard than the other lakes and rivers in North Carolina,” according to a posting on a company website.
  • Bingham said Alcoa’s objection to the posting of the fish-consumption advisory speaks volumes about their concern for the people who swim and fish at Badin Lake.
  • “It just tells me how they do business,” Bingham said. “They fought the fish-advisory signs; they say we’re taking their property and we have no rights to the water. We’re stuck with the bastards, at least for the moment, but I feel good about the direction of the fight we’re taking on in the future.”
  • Naujoks said he’s concerned about the high concentration of PCBs in the landfills and dumping sites near Alcoa’s four hydroelectric dams. Naujoks said Alcoa has not been entirely forthcoming about the number of waste dumping sites in and around their facilities.
  • They’re not showing us where all the buried bodies are found. As we start digging down through the layers, we’re going to find much more.”
  • “Alcoa knows they can’t hide these dumping sites,” Naujoks said
  • A PROMISING FUTURE Bingham said once Perdue joined the Yadkin River Coalition, it changed everything. “It’s been wonderful; it’s been extremely important,” he said. “We were facing a multi-billion-dollar corporation, but when the governor lis tened to our pleas, they began to take this extremely seriously. They realized they’re in for a fight.”
  • Bingham said the coalition will never quit until the Yadkin River is returned to the people of North Carolina.
  • “Our legal case could take years to resolve, but the campaign to support the legislation through the coalition and FERC re-licensing could be decided within the next year,” he said. “We will work on a targeted campaign to unify and strengthen grassroots efforts of local governments, public interest organizations, businesses and individuals to reclaim the waters of the Yadkin River to benefit the public interest.”
  • Bingham said he can see a day in the near future when the Yadkin is returned to the people and the economy of the 25 counties in the Yadkin River Basin begin to flourish.
  • The NC Department of Health and Human Services issued a fish-consumption advisory last February on Badin Lake after high levels of PCBs were found in fish tissue samples. Alcoa unsuccessfully filed a legal challenge to the advisory last April. The advisory remains in effect.
  • We can offer industry power at a reduced rate and that plays a big part in manufacturing,” he said. “That would be a tremendous incentive. For years, we’ve stood by the sidelines and watched industries go elsewhere. We don’t have anything to offer industry
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Renewable Energy, Hydroelectric Power - 0 views

  • Relicensing is a complex process in which private dams are re-evaluated every 30 to 50 years. The Federal Energy Regulatory Committee "considers anew whether it is appropriate to commit the public's river resources for private power generation FERC is now required, when deciding whether to issue a license, to consider not only the power generation potential of a river, but also to give equal consideration to energy conservation, protection of fish and wildlife, protection of recreational opportunities, and preservation of other aspects of environmental quality." Relicensing was infrequent until 1993, when hundreds of licenses began to expire. "The Hydropower Reform Coalition formed in 1992 to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore river ecosystems through the relicensing process." To the Coalition's dismay, a new bill is being considered called the Hydroelectric Licensing Process Improvement Act, which if passed, "would limit the abilities of federal agencies to protect natural resources," making relicensing easier for dam operators.
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Mineweb.com - The world's premier mining and mining investment website Alcoa, China Pow... - 0 views

  • Spending under the agreement could reach more than $7.5 billion, the companies said in a release on Tuesday, although they declined to list any specific projects. A spokesman for Alcoa said the agreement was for a "long-range cooperation to look at a range of projects," but did not list any specific plans. CPI is one of five major power generators in China, owning about 70 gigawatts of power generation, and is China's second largest aluminum producer.
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WFAE 90.7 FM - 0 views

  • Mr. Stickler is correct when he states, “We don’t put $300 million of investment in the ground and remove those assets in a couple of years,” says Stickler. HE AND HIS HOPEFUL INVESTORS JUST DO NOT MAKE THE INVESTMENT IN THE 1ST PLACE. His last “Proposed” Rebar plant (http://www.steeldevelopment.com/home.php) was in Amory, MS…… They committed to “DECADES” in Amory, MS, only to spend about 3 million dollars in grading and to leave when their “Equity Investors” , apparently Chinese, pulled out. Commissioner Dennis and the rest of the Commissioners have just reason to be concerned. I have spoken to people involved in the Amory MS project as well as Ontario, OH, where good people acted in good faith and listened to the “Stickler Pitch”… This time and in this community, Officials are aware of the previous dealings that this group “Proposed” and did NOT deliver on. It seems as if ALCOA has a big problem on their hands attempting to Introduce Clean-Tech to the Community. It makes you wonder if they conducted their due diligence, or did they? I stand firmly behind the County Commissioners and it is my hope Governor Perdue and Sec. Crisco are aware of the very questionable ability of Clean-Tech to perform considering that they DID NOT in Armory, MS. Comment by JohnMullis - September 30, 2011 9:10 PM
  • The jobs and revenue produced for the public by publicly controlled hydropower, where public entities have control of the FERC license for the hydroelectric dams is well documented on the Stanly County website. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx This website has links to key documents information about the Alcoa situation which ought to be read by anyone seeking to be informed about the issue or desiring to make an intelligent comment based on knowledge, not ignorance. In particular, take a look at the links on the Stanly County website to about the large numbers of jobs and revenue for the localities produced by the agreements struck between Alcoa and the New York Power Authority in December 2007 and between Alcoa and Chelan County, Washington, in June 2008. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx In addition, opponent's of recapture of the Yadkin Project ought to look at industrial recruitment advantages that South Carolina enjoys with low cost electrical power produced by Santee-Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer. https://www.santeecooper.com/portal/page/portal/santeecooper/homepage Comment by WaterPatriot - September 27, 2011 2:13 PM
  •  
    Alcoa, Stanly County Square Off Over JobsJulie Rose Monday September 26, 2011
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Alcoa, China Power Agree to Work on $7.5 Billion of Clean Energy Projects - Bloomberg - 0 views

  • Alcoa and China Power haven’t yet decided on specific projects and the exact amount they will spend will depend on the ventures they choose, Mike Belwood, a spokesman for Alcoa, said by telephone.
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Alcoa, China Power Agree to Work on $7.5 Billion of Clean Energy Projects- Bloomberg - 0 views

  • The companies may also look at opportunities to collaborate outside China
    • Yadkin River
       
      Outside of China - Like in NC?
  • China, the world’s largest polluter, wants non-fossil fuels to contribute 15 percent of its energy needs by 2020. The nation’s incentives to encourage low-carbon generation such as solar and wind power are almost triple those in the U.S., according to a report by the Climate Institute
  • “It’s very difficult for China to buy state of the art technology from the U.S., as there are many restrictions, but clean energy is an area where both U.S. and China love to cooperate,” said Owen Liang, a Shenzhen-based analyst with Guotai Junan Securities Co. “The question is why Alcoa?
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  • Alcoa
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Alcoa, China Power Investment outline joint venture - Pittsburgh Business Times - 0 views

  • Aluminum maker Alcoa    Alcoa Latest from The Business Journals Clean Tech deal in Badin canceledSouthwest Airlines to launch Boeing 737 MAXAfter markets' tough day, a possible rebound Follow this company (NYSE: AA) and the China Power Investment Corp. signed a letter of intent outlining the framework for a joint venture between the two companies
    • Yadkin River
       
      This is the followup from the Jan 2011 executed MOU in Washington DC
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News Update: Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. to Invest in Coal & Power Producers - YouTube - 0 views

  •  
    Chinalco to invest in Coal and Power Producers
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China's cyberwar against U.S. is too vital to ignore | CharlotteObserver.com & The Char... - 0 views

  • China's cyberwar against U.S. is too vital to ignore
  • China is waging a quiet, mostly invisible but massive cyberwar against the United States
  • obtaining the ability to sabotage vital infrastructure.
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  • stealing its most sensitive military and economic secrets
  • The Chinese offensive - and the economic and national security threats it poses - is simply too important to ignore.
  • guard domestic civilian targets
  • utilities such as power and water companies - not to mention the private e-mail accounts of thousands of Americans
  • This is the future of war. Sending armies to "invade" a country is too risky and fraught with diplomatic minefields. But covert strikes on sensitive and vulnerable technological targets? That is relatively easy, hard to trace, and capable of reaping significant rewards or causing large amounts of confusion and damage. A Like Reply
  •  
    Alcoa's relationship with China Power is too hard to Ignore
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When Foreign Countries Want to Buy into U.S. Nuclear Power Plants - What Then... - 0 views

  • For example, U.S. national policy makers have worked to make sure sensitive military and defense technology and production remain with American companies.
  • After 9/11, concerns grew that foreign ownership of U.S. infrastructure could increase our vulnerability to terrorist attacks. One example is the heated debate triggered by the 2006 purchase of a company that ran U.S. ports by the United Arab Emirates-owned company Dubai Ports World. (Dubai Ports eventually sold its interests to a U.S. company.) More recently, globalization of the nuclear industry and the weak U.S. economy have attracted significant levels of foreign investment in the U.S. nuclear industry
  • The Atomic Energy Act prohibits the NRC from issuing a license to any entity that the Commission believes is “owned, controlled or dominated by an alien, a foreign corporation or foreign government.” Broadly speaking, the foreign ownership prohibition protects the “common defense and security” of the United States, even though this may prevent some nations from participating in U.S. nuclear joint ventures.
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  • mitigate foreign control issues
  • Len Skoblar March 1, 2011 at 6:53 am Actually, I think the time has come to end this dance. Energy is a strategic commodity…period. Our country’s very survival depends upon it. So let us dispense with the distraction (and risk) that “foreign investment” brings to the dance. The US government should subsidize indigenous energy production in all its manifestations and forms to eliminate the need for foreign investment. That would be tax dollars well spent. And NRC could then bring even more focus and resources to its primary mission….nuclear safety.
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TVA: TVA and Economic Development - 0 views

  • Delivering reliable, competitively priced power that makes the Valley an attractive place to start or expand a business
  • Providing state and local governments across the Valley with annual tax-equivalent payments that help support education, road construction and other vital community needs. 
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Alcoa-China Power Ink Pact - Zacks.com - 0 views

  • The terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.
  • In January, both the companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Washington when the Chinese president Hu Jintao paid a state visit to the U.S.
  • The two will work together in overseas and domestic projects.
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Brazil Outshines Other BRIC Economies : NPR - 0 views

  • December 21, 2011 One of the most powerful forces of change has been the dramatic economic growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China. Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management Jim O'Neill coined the term BRIC, an acronym for those four countries, ten years ago when he began to zero in on their economies. O'Neill talks to Renee Montagne about his book The Growth Map.
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