Yadkin Hydroelectric Project

News 14 Covers Stanly County Water Rights Protest

by Patty

We, the concerned leaders, residents and supporters of Stanly County, are happy to report that News 14, the 24-hour local news cable channel, felt that our protest on March 31 in Raleigh was worthy enough to merit coverage by its Triangle bureau. The story can be found here.

This coverage was helpful and informative, and we appreciate it. However, the emphasis of some comments made by Gene Ellis, licensing and property manager for Alcoa Power Generating Inc., indicates once again that he and other company officials are making the wrong arguments and not addressing the real issues at hand.

We are fighting over water POLICY, not over water SUPPLY. The current license that would be granted to Alcoa would allow them virtually unrestricted power to use the Yadkin for its power generating activities. The water supply will be there, absolutely. But in order to access it, North Carolinians will need Alcoa’s approval and pay whatever price they may impose in order for it to be used potable or other purposes. What’s more, the benefits reaped from this relicensing would occur almost entirely for Alcoa’s bottom line and not North Carolina’s. Alcoa can sell the power from the operations to whomever they want, or even sell the operations themselves to a third party for profit.

Regardless of what will happen, Stanly County – and North Carolina for that matter – will be powerless to touch the hydropower setup for 50 years under the terms of that license if it is granted, even though it comes from its own public resource – the waters of the Yadkin River.

Also in the News 14 story, Ellis claims how beneficial his company’s operations are to Stanly. “One is the recreational value that it brings to the local economy; another is the tourism value, and again that’s an impact on the local economy,” he said. Does he really think that the area’s recreation and tourism has been improved by having an outside multinational firm generate power from the Yadkin River, and that further enhancements will occur in these areas should Alcoa continue to operate them until 2058? I cannot recall anyone claiming to visit Stanly County because of its hydroelectric plants, nor would expect to hear that in the future.

Let’s face it – this sort of monopoly regarding public water resources is outdated in the 21st century. Now more than ever, we in North Carolina need to take control of their use and see that they benefit local residents and businesses rather than outside moneymaking interests. It is just common sense in planning for a prosperous future.

We ask that state officials do their part by stressing to members of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission our concerns and encourage the FERC to deny this relicensing. Otherwise, Stanly will not be the only county in North Carolina to fall short of in its fight for public resource rights.

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