Chelan PUD Agrees to ALCOA “Buying Time” Agreement

This is a corrected version of an earlier post

Chelan County PUD officially approved the deferral agreement with Alcoa on Monday that will give Alcoa one more year to consider restarting its Wenatchee aluminum smelter  or pay Chelan PUD $62 million due in June next year.

The extension agreement to "buy time" includes a $7.3 million payment this year, and no loss of benefits for workers due to the extension.  The extension is also financially nuetral for PUD customer owners

Kelley Woodard, union president, supported the agreement noting the goal is, "is to get the plant restarted and get [his] members back to work."

PUD Commissioner Ann Congdon said the union support was key to her yes vote.