MASSENA — State officials plan to tell Alcoa executives at a meeting in New York City today they plan to enforce a contract that requires Alcoa to retain current employment levels in Massena, despite Wednesday’s announcement that two potlines will be closed.

Alcoa, St. Lawrence County’s largest private employer, Wednesday announced it will permanently close the remaining two potlines at its Massena East smelter in the first quarter of this year.

The Massena West facility will continue to operate, Alcoa officials said.

In 2009, the state agreed to supply 478 megawatts of low-cost electricity to Alcoa in exchange for Alcoa agreeing to retain approximately 1,000 jobs in Massena. Shutting down the potlines now raises the question of whether Alcoa will follow through with its promise.

“Today, representatives from the Governor’s Office and the New York Power Authority met with senior officials from Alcoa and impressed upon them that we intend to enforce the terms of the long-term power supply contract for Alcoa’s receipt of low-cost hydropower from NYPA’s St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Hydroelectric Plant, which requires the company to maintain employment at the plants,” said the governor’s communications director, Melissa DeRosa.

State and local officials, including Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, broke ground in July of last year for the more than $600 million Alcoa East Aluminum facility modernization and upgrade project.

Under the contract, which was entered into in 2009, Alcoa committed to protect nearly a thousand jobs at its Massena facilities and undertake capital investments of at least $600 million, of which $42 million is currently being spent on site preparation for a new aluminum production potline at the Massena East plant.

“To be clear, we will hold Alcoa accountable to maintain the operation of the Massena West smelter and ensure the planned modernization of the Massena East facility proceeds without delay as required by the contract. This will be stressed again in an emergency meeting with company officials that we will be holding tomorrow in New York City. Our goal is to protect jobs while avoiding involuntary lay-offs in the North Country—and nothing less. DeRosa said.

The decision was made because the potlines are no longer competitive, company officials said in a prepared statement.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie says she plans to “immediately” reach out to the governor, local and state officials “to try to find ways we can work together to preserve these jobs.”

One of three potlines at the facility was permanently closed in August 2013. The closure will reduce Alcoa’s smelting capacity by 84,000 metric tons.

“I was shocked and deeply disappointed by Alcoa’s surprise announcement of job reductions at Massena’s East plant. Here in the North Country, we’re working every day to try to preserve and create jobs for our communities,” she said.

She continued, “Alcoa has made commitments to this community and to New York State and its taxpayers in exchange for significant investment and support of its operations. We all want this company to succeed. We all want to see it grow and remain in the North Country far into the future. Once again, we are being called upon as a community to stand up for our local jobs. Once again, I plan to continue to work closely with all interested parties to do what we can to convince Alcoa to maintain these jobs in this region,” Richie said.