Century aluminum's Hawesville smelter consumes more power than the entire city of San Antonio, Texas. The smelter buys that power from Big Rivers but not for long.
The immediate impact will be big. The trickle down effect could be bigger.
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Even on a day of smiles and ribbon cuttings, Henderson Chamber of Commerce President Brad Schneider can't ignore the headlines.
"Not unexpected," said Schneider. "We had known that once Century Aluminum decided to leave Big Rivers, we knew there was going to be a rate hike of some sort."
Much like power lines themselves, the impact could be far reaching.
If approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the rate increase could have a potentially huge impact on the local and regional economy. There would be a 17% rate increase for large industrial customers, a 19% rate increase for rural residential customers. That would result in $24 more a month on those customers' utility bills.
It's due in large part to Century Aluminum severing ties with Big Rivers. That turns everyone else into collateral damage including the Alcan plant in Henderson County.
As a co-op, Big Rivers and Kenergy can only lose so much business. But in turn, it can only support so much business.
"In the past, with all the power devoted to the two smelters [Alcan and Century], they had to say no to a company that needed a certain amount of power they couldn't provide, legally," said Schneider. "Now, there's more capacity so they may be able to say yes to some companies they couldn't say yes to before and we hope that happens."
Schneider knows much of this is out of his hands. As chamber president, he says he has to be a cheerleader, of sorts. And every cheerleader needs a ribbon cutting.
"We have selling points, no doubt," said Schneider. "Diversifying will help but we'll take everything we can get at this point, I'll tell you that."
Schneider also finds solace in the fact that energy rates in Kentucky remain some of the lowest in the country even with the proposed increase.
The immediate impact will be big. The trickle down effect could be bigger.
****
Even on a day of smiles and ribbon cuttings, Henderson Chamber of Commerce President Brad Schneider can't ignore the headlines.
"Not unexpected," said Schneider. "We had known that once Century Aluminum decided to leave Big Rivers, we knew there was going to be a rate hike of some sort."
Much like power lines themselves, the impact could be far reaching.
If approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the rate increase could have a potentially huge impact on the local and regional economy. There would be a 17% rate increase for large industrial customers, a 19% rate increase for rural residential customers. That would result in $24 more a month on those customers' utility bills.
It's due in large part to Century Aluminum severing ties with Big Rivers. That turns everyone else into collateral damage including the Alcan plant in Henderson County.
As a co-op, Big Rivers and Kenergy can only lose so much business. But in turn, it can only support so much business.
"In the past, with all the power devoted to the two smelters [Alcan and Century], they had to say no to a company that needed a certain amount of power they couldn't provide, legally," said Schneider. "Now, there's more capacity so they may be able to say yes to some companies they couldn't say yes to before and we hope that happens."
Schneider knows much of this is out of his hands. As chamber president, he says he has to be a cheerleader, of sorts. And every cheerleader needs a ribbon cutting.
"We have selling points, no doubt," said Schneider. "Diversifying will help but we'll take everything we can get at this point, I'll tell you that."
Schneider also finds solace in the fact that energy rates in Kentucky remain some of the lowest in the country even with the proposed increase.
