The following letter was delivered to Gov. Perdue today.
April 9, 2009
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.
Sincerely,
Rick Bowen
President – Energy
Alcoa, Inc.
Cc: The Honorable J. Keith Crisco, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Commerce
The Honorable Dee Freeman, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
The Honorable Marc Basnight, President Pro Tempore,
The Honorable Joe Hackney, Speaker,
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