Century Aluminum Mt. Holly
Large load · 3575 US-52, Goose Creek, SC
Century Aluminum's Mt. Holly smelter in Berkeley County, South Carolina, is a primary aluminum plant with two potlines and 360 pots, rated at about 230,000 tonnes a year. Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, has supplied it since it came online in 1980. Its latest published supply contract, finalized in 2023, provides 295 MW. A 2025 agreement extends service through 2031 and allows an idled potline to restart, and Century now describes the plant as running at full capacity.
Overview
- Contracted demand
- 295 MW
- operating · Oct 24, 2023
Santee Cooper has provided electricity to the Berkeley County plant since it came online in 1980. A three-year contract finalized in October 2023 ran from January 1, 2024 through December 2026 and was designed to deliver 295 MW, enough to keep the smelter at its then-current operating rate. An earlier preliminary agreement in 2020 called for a minimum of 290 MW so that output could rise by half.
Profile
- The 2025 extension and restart of idle capacity
- In October 2025 Santee Cooper and Century agreed an extended service agreement providing additional power through 2031. The deal lets Century reopen an idled potline and raise plant capacity by 25%. Century's chief executive said the extension allows the company to restart the idle capacity at Mt. Holly. Century's plant page now carries the headline that the smelter is boosting production to 100% capacity.
- A history of power-price disputes
- In December 2015 Century decided to run Mt. Holly at 50% capacity and began shutting down its first potline, after a dispute with Santee Cooper over power rates. Century said at the time that the rate of nearly $50 per MWh was among the highest of any US aluminum smelter. The company then bought 75% of the plant's power from suppliers outside South Carolina and 25% from Santee Cooper, which transmitted the power to the smelter.
Facility
- Activity
- Primary aluminum smelting (two potlines, 360 pots), cast into billet and sow
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Permits and agreements
- Agreement
- Extended Santee Cooper service agreement through 2031 that lets Century reopen an idled potline
- Agreement
- Three-year power contract running 2024 through December 2026 for 295 MW
Related records
Timeline
- Dec 17, 2015
- Century decided to run Mt. Holly at 50% capacity after a power-rate dispute with Santee Cooper
www.alcircle.com
- Oct 24, 2023
- Century finalized a three-year, 295 MW power contract with Santee Cooper
alcircle.com
- Oct 6, 2025
- Santee Cooper and Century agreed an extended service agreement through 2031 to power an additional potline
Santee Cooper, Century Sign Agreement to Power Additional Potline, Create Jobs in Mt. Holly