State Politics: Aluminum Companies Donate $75,000 to Initiative 2066

Kaiser Aluminum, a Tennessee-based company, dropped $75,000 last week into Main Street Matters to Washington, a PAC associated with Initiative 2066, the ballot measure that would roll back various attempts to limit the use of natural gas.

The company, which has a history in Washington dating back to the 1940s, currently operates manufacturing plants in Spokane and the Tri-Cities. Aluminum is a notoriously power-hungry business, and much of its history in the PNW is related to the availability of cheap hydropower from the Bonneville Power Administration.

The main effect of I-2066 would be to repeal a bill passed by the Legislature this year that would make it easier for Puget Sound Energy to transition its customers from gas to electricity, which the utility wants to help it achieve its state-mandated emissions goals. Industrial power users were among the many voices raised against that proposal, denouncing it as a de facto ban on gas and a sweetheart deal for PSE that would force expensive electrification conversions on businesses and homeowners.

Both of Kaiser’s plants are outside PSE’s service area, but other utilities also looked askance at that bill, figuring it was the thin edge of the wedge. The biggest player in that campaign is the Building Industry Association of Washington. The combative homebuilders generally oppose government intrusion into their business and are particularly irked at measures aimed at discouraging them from installing gas furnaces, water heaters, and stoves in new houses.

https://www.postalley.org/2024/07/12/state-politics-aluminum-companies-pony-up-lands-commissioner-revelations/