Ameren working with Noranda, lawmakers to save smelter

Faced with potentially closing a New Madrid aluminum smelter by the end of this winter, Franklin, Tenn.-based Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. is receiving help from an unlikely source – its power company.

Ameren Missouri said Tuesday it is working with state legislators to help the company keep business running. Last week, Noranda announced 490 workers would be laid off by February and the plant would close if better electricity rates were not secured.

In return for helping the company, Ameren is reportedly seeking changes to state utility laws that would give it more latitude to file for rate increases, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Noranda, Ameren’s largest customer that buys roughly 10 percent of its total power generated, also has been one of its strongest opponents when the power supplier calls for rate hikes. The company’s exclusion by state regulators from Ameren’s last rate hike in April cost the average household customer an extra $1 per month on bills.

Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.