An Alcoa vice president is in North Carolina for two weeks talking to friends and detractors as part of the company strategy for getting its long-term federal hydroelectric license renewed.
Kevin Anton, a company vice president based in Tennessee, wants to talk to commissioners in Stanly County, which is suing to stop the relicensing, state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco, who doesn't want the license renewed, and various others who are fighting the company's effort to get another 50-year license to operate hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River.
"We didn't like where things were progressing here in North Carolina," Anton said. "It was time for a new approach."
The company recently suffered a setback on the way to a license renewal when it was revealed in a court hearing that company representatives discussed hiding from state regulators information about how water-improvement devices would work. When company e-mail exchanges surfaced, the state revoked a certification Alcoa needs to get the federal license.
Alcoa still plans an administrative appeal of the decision to revoke the certification, but the company wants to talk to state regulators, too, Anton said.
Today, Anton met with Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, a Concord Republican and Alcoa foe.
Hartsell described the discussion as "initial efforts at developing concensus."
To show Stanly County it is serious about economic development, Alcoa plans to tear down 25 buildings on its 160-acre industrial site to get the property ready for another company to lease or buy.
Alcoa used to run an aluminum smelter on the property, but it has been shut down for years.
