US: Century Aluminum files lawsuit against Santee Cooper

Century Aluminum of South Carolina has filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against Santee Cooper, accusing the power provider of breaching state and federal antitrust laws. In response, Santee Cooper has promised a “vigorous defense.”

“We have filed this antitrust lawsuit against Santee Cooper as a last resort to save 600 jobs and the nearly $1 billion in economic contributions to the state of South Carolina made by the Mt. Holly plant,” said Michael Bless, Century Aluminum Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We reluctantly made the choice to proceed with the lawsuit only after all else failed, including a recent final face-to-face attempt to reach resolution with Santee Cooper.”

According to Century Aluminum of South Carolina, Santee Cooper unlawfully pushed the Mt. Holly plant to purchase a quarter of its power for rates much higher than market prices. The costs of the price increase reportedly forced the plant to lay off half of its employees in order to stay in business.

Full Content: ABC News

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