RALEIGH — Even though Alcoa Power Generating Inc. has won two more legal battles against the state of North Carolina dealing with the company’s efforts to relicense its four hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River, the state plans to continue fighting to gain control of those facilities, says a spokesman for one of the agencies involved in the legal battle.
RALEIGH — Alcoa Power Generating Inc. scored a victory in federal court May 6 when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ruled that the state of North Carolina failed to prove that a 45-mile segment of the Yadkin River where Alcoa operates four hydroelectric dams was navigable for commerce in 1789. Alcoa continues to assert that the deeds it has to property all along the contested area are valid.
RALEIGH — Perdue’s apparent reversal would end a four-year battle over control of Alcoa's dams, the water flowing through them, and the hydroelectric power they generate. Backing the Clean Tech project also is consistent with Perdue’s efforts to make job creation and business recruitment a top priority in North Carolina.
BADIN — Gov. Bev Perdue and Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco were invited to, but did not attend, a ceremony announcing a $10 million investment in as many as 200 “green” jobs at the location of Alcoa’s former aluminum smelter.
RALEIGH — Only one of the three bills has Alcoa’s name on it, but the other two may as well, as they appear to be targeted at the company, said Alcoa spokesman Mike Bellwood.
RALEIGH — A majority of the commission members have gone on the record backing Gov. Bev Perdue’s request for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny Alcoa’s license to continue operating four hydroelectric dams, enabling the state to take over the project and gain control of thousands of acres of adjacent property.
RALEIGH — A panel from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication has criticized harshly UNC-TV for a “breakdown in the editorial process” that led to “an unbalanced and slanted view” in a series of stories on Alcoa and the state’s efforts to take over four of the company’s hydroelectric dams.
RALEIGH — The state’s efforts to take over Alcoa’s hydroelectric dams in central North Carolina precipitated the showdown, with Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, on Thursday ordering UNC-TV General Manager Tom Howe and legislative reporter Eszter Vajda to provide a copy of “all footage (including all interviews, B-roll and camera masters) in your possession regarding the Alcoa Corporation’s activities in Stanly County.”
RALEIGH — The event was hosted by Mayor Charles Meeker, whose law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP represents Stanly County; and City Councillor Nancy McFarlane, who formerly headed the North Carolina Water Rights Committee, a nonprofit group that has been lobbying the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing the state to seize Alcoa’s dams and set up an independent Yadkin River Trust to operate them.
RALEIGH — Property rights advocates are on alert over efforts by lawmakers to pass legislation that would give the state control over Alcoa’s Yadkin river dams and hydroelectric facilities. The effort failed in the General Assembly this summer, but the state’s push to gain control will continue, according to the governor’s office. Rick Henderson, managing editor of Carolina Journal, discussed the controversy with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.
RALEIGH — Gov. Beverly Perdue supports the creation of a new state agency to manage Alcoa’s hydroelectric facilities.
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