High Rock Lake Association speaks out against state takeover

The High Rock Lake Association’s Board of Directors has unanimously voted to oppose North Carolina’s effort to take Alcoa’s privately-owned hydroelectric business and Gov. Perdue’s motion to intervene in the relicensing of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.  You can read about it here in the Lexington Dispatch: Lake group challenges state proposal on Alcoa and the Stanly News & Press: HRLA opposes bill, favors Alcoa.

A press release cited the association’s concern with the continued delay in the relicensing process, the State’s disregard for the established relicensing process in which the association actively participated and the burden on North Carolina taxpayers that would result from a government takeover.

The entire press release is posted below:

High Rock Lake Association Challenges State Proposal

LEXINGTON, NC – At a meeting this week of the High Rock Lake Association (HRLA), their Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion to take issue with North Carolina’s unprecedented proposal to take over the “Yadkin Project,” Alcoa’s power generation facilities and reservoirs on the Yadkin River.

In a written review of the proposed Senate Bill 967, Larry Jones, President of HRLA, pointed out that there are several areas that demand explanations from our legislators, including causing further delays in the license renewal process, lack of legal precedent, loss of county tax revenues, adding to the NC taxpayer’s burden, assuming responsibility for pollution abatement, destroying the “business friendly” reputation of NC, and ignoring circumventing normal requirements of accountability and transparency in creating a new “authority.”  

The HRLA Board also voted to object to Governor Perdue’s motion to FERC to intervene in the Relicensing process. After conscientiously and publicly negotiating for over six years with Alcoa (APGI), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the many other stakeholders on the Yadkin River Basin to arrive at the pending, detailed Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) under FERC’s relicensing procedures, it is extremely disappointing to HRLA and its’ 1,500+ members to suddenly hear the State call for an “emergency hearing” to hear a motion to “allow intervention out of time”! 

The state is also claiming that “the Governor is doing no more than implementing the will of the electorate and is deserving of deference on matters of timing….”! This is despite the fact that the NC Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission have been involved in the process since 2002. The Governors’ actions, in the opinion of the HRLA, do not reflect the will of the people.

HRLA believes that these lakes are one of the crown jewels of NC providing environmental, recreational, economic, and aesthetic benefits.  We encourage everyone to study SB 967 and consider the questions it raises.

For further information, and a review of SB967, please see the HRLA website.