Refined aluminum is in quite a high-energy state. Chemically you could extract energy or make electricity from aluminum. It's used in some types of military explosives. Because the refining takes so much electricity, some well-meaning people suggest running it at times of low demand to balance the grid. But refining is capital intensive so you don't want to turn it off or you miss out on the returns from the investment, and the process runs at high temperatures and can't just be turned on and off (in fact if that happens unintentionally it makes a big mess!)

I agree with what you're saying though.