AG 2009 04 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Will Alcoa Honor its Contract? Alcoa's public relations specialists have repeatedly stated that the State of North Carolina is attempting to take Alcoa's private property during the current relicensing process for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. But there is no "taking of private property" without just compensation as Alcoa implies. Alcoa has always understood that its license for the Yadkin Project was for a limited number of years. In return for receiving from the federal government for free-the exclusive license to generate hydropower from the Yadkin River for 50 years, Alcoa agreed to transfer the Project Property at the end of its license if the federal government decided, that in the public's best interest, someone else should be given the right to generate power from the Yadkin River. If the federal government decides to reclaim the Yadkin Project, Alcoa will be compensated for its property exactly as Alcoa understood and agreed when it originally accepted the Yadkin license in 1958. Now, Alcoa would like the public to believe that it had a different deal. The hydropower potential of the Yadkin River is owned by the public, not Alcoa. For the past 50 years, APGI (Alcoa Power Generating, Inc.) and its predecessors enjoyed the exclusive right to use the water of the Yadkin River to generate electricity under the terms of a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That 50-year right to use the publicly-owned power potential of the river to generate electricity has now expired, and Alcoa is continuing to generate electricity under year-to-year "annual licenses" from FERC that allow the project to continue operating while FERC decides whether or not to give Alcoa-for free-another 30- to 50-year license. Attachment number 4 ' F-2 Page 63 of 320