An electric plant in Spokane, Wash., that provides power to a Kaiser Aluminum Corp. factory. The price of electricity is so high that one aluminum plant can make more money reselling power than by keeping its doors open. Kaiser Aluminum Corp. on Sunday shut down its Mead aluminum smelter here until at least October and said it would resell the power it is not using to the Bonneville Power Administration, the region's federal power marketing agency.
Energy demands are at all time high.
Kaiser is reaping a windfall made possible by a volatile energy market that is shrinking supplies and driving up prices in the West. A cold snap in the Northwest has made matters worse. In the Western Power Grid, the price of electricity is fluctuating wildly as deregulation meets winter. So Lucky Kaiser's situation is rare, however. Seattle-based Boeing Co. is a major consumer of aluminum and of electricity.