Century Aluminum officials are "committed to restarting" the Ravenswood aluminum plant despite the Public Service Commission's recent rejection of the company's two alternative special rate proposals.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Century Aluminum officials are "committed to restarting" the Ravenswood aluminum plant despite the Public Service Commission's recent rejection of the company's two alternative special rate proposals.
Century officials are still reviewing the PSC's Friday ruling, in which the agency denied both alternatives Century had offered in October in its special electricity rate case.
The proposals would still put risk on Appalachian Power's other customers, the PSC ruled.
Century spokeswoman Lindsey Berryhill said company officials will be prepared to issue a more complete statement once they have a better understanding of the ruling.
"In the meantime, we would like to thank the PSC for its hard work in reviewing our request, and we remain steadfastly committed to restarting the plant," Berryhill said.
Century's Ravenswood plant has been closed since early 2009. The company has asked for a special electricity rate based on the price of aluminum.
The PSC and its Consumer Advocate Division have repeatedly rejected putting an unreasonable risk on other Appalachian Power customers, and reiterated that position Friday.
In October, Century had proposed an immediate restart plan and a future restart plan, neither of which are acceptable, the PSC ruled.
The immediate restart plan, which would allow the plant to resume operations sometime in 2013, is "fatally flawed" because it imposes an unreasonable burden on other ratepayers, the PSC ruled.
The future restart option, which would allow the plant to reopen in the future when aluminum prices increase, is "unacceptable because it fails to account for changes in electric rates," the PSC ruled.
The commission also proposed that Century negotiate with other parties involved, like Appalachian Power and West Virginia Energy Users Group, to negotiate a special rate.
The PSC's Oct. 4 order -- which rejected Century's initial proposal but said the company could have a special rate for electric as long as it is not at the expense of other customers -- is "in full force and effect," the PSC ruled.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.ker...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Century Aluminum officials are "committed to restarting" the Ravenswood aluminum plant despite the Public Service Commission's recent rejection of the company's two alternative special rate proposals.
Century officials are still reviewing the PSC's Friday ruling, in which the agency denied both alternatives Century had offered in October in its special electricity rate case.
The proposals would still put risk on Appalachian Power's other customers, the PSC ruled.
Century spokeswoman Lindsey Berryhill said company officials will be prepared to issue a more complete statement once they have a better understanding of the ruling.
"In the meantime, we would like to thank the PSC for its hard work in reviewing our request, and we remain steadfastly committed to restarting the plant," Berryhill said.
Century's Ravenswood plant has been closed since early 2009. The company has asked for a special electricity rate based on the price of aluminum.
The PSC and its Consumer Advocate Division have repeatedly rejected putting an unreasonable risk on other Appalachian Power customers, and reiterated that position Friday.
In October, Century had proposed an immediate restart plan and a future restart plan, neither of which are acceptable, the PSC ruled.
The immediate restart plan, which would allow the plant to resume operations sometime in 2013, is "fatally flawed" because it imposes an unreasonable burden on other ratepayers, the PSC ruled.
The future restart option, which would allow the plant to reopen in the future when aluminum prices increase, is "unacceptable because it fails to account for changes in electric rates," the PSC ruled.
The commission also proposed that Century negotiate with other parties involved, like Appalachian Power and West Virginia Energy Users Group, to negotiate a special rate.
The PSC's Oct. 4 order -- which rejected Century's initial proposal but said the company could have a special rate for electric as long as it is not at the expense of other customers -- is "in full force and effect," the PSC ruled.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.ker...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
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