If you?ve followed the fight between state government and Alcoa over control of the company?s hydroelectric dams along the Yadkin River, you might want to read a new four-page feature (?The North Carolina Power Grab?) on the topic in the latest Fortune magazine.
You?ll read arguments on both sides of this dispute, including a single paragraph that encapsulates the heart of the debate from the property-rights perspective:
Alcoa beat back legislation last year that would have created a state trust to manage the hydroelectric projects. Its most effective argument was that the state wanted to seize private property without paying sufficient compensation. ?It?s almost as if it?s Venezuela,? a company spokesman said during the fight.