Berkeley County lawmakers meet with Santee Cooper CEO over aluminum plant jobs

Berkeley County lawmakers are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon with Santee Cooper’s chief executive officer over the fate of the Century Aluminum plant in Mount Holly.

The informational meeting between the legislative delegation and CEO Lonnie Carter starts at 5 p.m. at the state-owned utility headquarters in Moncks Corner. It is open to the public.

It is not a board of directors meeting, so Santee Cooper cannot take any action.

The discussion with lawmakers is part of an effort to avoid a complete Dec. 31 shutdown over electricity service at the Century smelter, which employs 600 workers and has an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $1 billion on the Charleston region.

It is being hold the same day the company began shutting down one of it two main production lines in the county.

Century now gets 75 percent of its power from an out-of-state provider on the open market and 25 percent from Santee Cooper. Century Aluminum wants to buy all of its power on the open market.

State Rep. Bill Crosby, R-North Charleston, is among the lawmakers expected to attend the meeting.

Last week, he told The Post and Courier that he hopes to persuade both sides to continue operating under their current power contract for six more months so the Legislature can figure out a solution once it convenes in January.

Crosby said lawmakers might find money in the budget to help Mount Holly survive or they might write a bill that lets the smelter buy all of its power on the free market, an option that Century Aluminum has been pressing for these past few months.

Century CEO Michael Bless was to meet with Carter on Friday in Columbia.

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