EDITORIALS: Controlling water

“In North Carolina, the value of our water is an ever-increasing commodity”

The Yadkin River slices through North Carolina and into South Carolina on a southeast course from its headwaters in the Blue Ridge. Since early in the 20th century it has powered a hydroelectric operation that once provided electricity for the bustling Alcoa aluminum plant at Badin.

Now it's the topic of a concerted campaign by Stanly County officials to slow down a federal relicensing process that would give Alcoa another 50-year license to generate power and control a section of the river's waters. The group wants the Easley administration to step in to oppose a new license and support the 'recapture' of the company's investment in the hydro operation -- a repurchase process allowed for in federal law but never before exercised, the company says. Read more