... vast new hydro-eclectic projects significantly expanded power production. This meant that on the eve of World War II, American industry had access to huge quantities of low-cost electricity. This was something the Axis planners did not take into account in assessing the potential industrial capacity of the United States. The Columbia River in the Northwest played an especially important role in the American aluminum industry. The industry was the first major industrial customer of Columbia River hydro power. The aluminum industry which at first was relatively small, grew to employ around 11,000 people in the Northwest and consume 3,150 megawatts of electricity. Colombia River power developed just in time for World War II. No country in the world had a comparable electrical generation capacity. The American electrical power generation capacity would also play a major role in the Manhattan Project. The Bonneville Dam came on line just as Hitler began to use the German Luftwaffe to terrorize Europe (1938). The Grand Coulee Dam was completed further expanding power production just before Pearl Harbor (1941). The first Alcoa smelter was in Vancouver which was the birth of the Northwest aluminum industry. Other aluminum smelters quickly followed given the rapidly expanding demand from defense plants. Reynolds Metals Company constructed the next one, at Longview, Washington, about 40 miles north of Vancouver (1941). Other plants were built by the Defense Plant Corporation, which was formed by the Federal government to rapidly expand critical industries. The plants were dispersed geographically around the Northwest, so that they could benefit multiple communities. Each used electricity primarily from Bonneville. Boeing, which was already building B-17 bombers n Seattle, was a primary consumer of aluminum from the Northwest smelters. This was just the beginning as after Pear Harbor, American aircraft production increased exponentially. One source estimates that electricity from the Grand Coulee Dam alone provided the power to make the aluminum used for an estimated one-third of the American aircraft built during World War II.