Scott Tours Alcoa, Calls for Power Bill Compromise

U.S. Rep. Tim Scott led Alcoa employees in a prayer Friday for "a win-win" solution in the ongoing power bill dispute with provider Santee Cooper.

The aluminium production plant rang the alarm in August that . In September, , noting the company provides $110 million in state and local revenue and has a $900 million economic impact in the state.

The contract with Santee Cooper runs through December 2015. Alcoa has until June to give notice that it won't renew the contract.

Scott (R-Charleston) toured the Goose Creek aluminium plant and spoke briefly to the employees, pointing out that the work of the plant's 650 workers is helping further those talks.

"You have created the platform for the conversation to continue," Scott said. "I'm hopeful that Santee Cooper and your executives will stay at the table unitl the deal is done."

Mt. Holly Plant Manager Mike Rousseau said afterwards that the two sides are still in talks and hopeful for a resolution, including the possibility of a temporary agreement as negotiations continue towards a long-term deal.

That would be welcome news for employees like carbon plant manager Bill Anglyn. "We want to move on and provide for our families, but with all this unsettled future, we don't know which way the tree is going to fall," he said.

Scott noted the anxiety in his comments to the employees.

"People are stopping their life plans waiting on something to happen," he said. One employee told Scott that he was waiting to get engaged until he knew the plant was staying. "That's a dramatic story, but everybody has a story about a car or an iPad or a house or a refinance. My story is a simple one, I stand on the side of common sense."

Gov. Nikki Haley toured the plant in November, .