How did cheap electric power change aluminum production?

The availability of cheap electric power was the catalyst that enabled the transition from expensive, small-scale chemical production to the modern, commercially viable Hall-Héroult process.12

Before this development, aluminum was produced using the Deville process, which relied on metallic sodium and was prohibitively costly. The discovery of the electrolytic method in 1886 allowed producers to extract aluminum by passing direct current through a bath of alumina and cryolite. Because electricity is one of the most significant costs in this process, producers actively sought out hydroelectric power to scale operations.123

This shift fundamentally changed the industry in several ways:
* Industrial Expansion: Companies like the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (later Alcoa) relocated to sites like Niagara Falls to secure affordable energy.3
* Global Growth: European firms similarly established smelters near waterpower sources, such as the Rhine falls in Switzerland and sites in Norway.4
* Efficiency: Over time, technological improvements driven by the need to manage power costs have drastically reduced energy consumption, dropping from 19 kilowatt-hours per kilogram in 1940 to about 13 kilowatt-hours by 1990.1