Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510230024
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The rumor has been circulating that some longtime workers at Appalachian Power Co. dread seeing the weekend roll around, fearing they would be caught in a series of end-of-the-week layoffs.
The tale of these "Friday massacres" probably can be traced to a bit of gallows humor among workers at the utility's headquarters in downtown Roanoke. Layoffs are not happening with such regularity, according to company officials, who said no heads rolled Friday.
What's happening is a company-wide reorganization of Apco's parent, American Electric Power Co. Inc., and a downsizing of Appalachian itself.
Earlier this year, Apco President Joseph Vipperman said 200 jobs would be eliminated by the end of 1996 as a result of an internal study. As of Friday, the company had cut 65 to 70 of those jobs. Some people whose jobs were scrapped have retired. The company couldn't immediately determine how many had been laid off, Apco spokesman Don Johnson said.
What remains unclear is how many more Apco jobs will be lost as AEP combines Apco's operations with five other operating subsidiaries into one big power delivery company serving customers in seven states. AEP is reorganizing itself by the operating functions of power generation, transmission and distribution rather than by the current geographical arrangement.
In August, AEP said it was doing away with 1,200 of 5,300 jobs at 16 power plants across its system, saving $25 million a year. Included in the cuts are 20 jobs at two Apco plants in Virginia and hundreds more at four of plants in West Virginia.
For the most part, however, AEP has begun the reorganization by first naming who will fill new top management jobs. The company has yet to tell most lower-level workers within Apco what role, if any, they will have in the new setup - a company that will deliver power under the AEP name.
"Everybody in this company who has not been named to a position is feeling very vulnerable right now," said Johnson, who himself is awaiting word of his fate. "The employees have been living with a lot of uncertainty for a long period of time," he said.
What AEP is trying to do, Johnson said, is identify the best people from across the system and move them into the surviving jobs. "They're trying to put together the most productive, efficient organization they can," he said. "It takes time."
In an effort to reduce the uncertainty and keep employees informed about AEP's plans, Apco set up a toll-free hotline to field workers' questions and special communications groups of supervisors to meet with workers. Another round of informational meetings will be held before Thanksgiving, said Public Affairs Director Wayne Hasty.
It's difficult to tell what the net effect of Apco's reorganization has been by looking at raw employment figures, because the company has been hiring as well as cutting jobs. In March, for instance, Apco reported having 4,626 workers in its Virginia and West Virginia territory. In July, the number jumped to 4,961 and in September fell to 4,791.
AEP's reorganization, effective Jan. 1, is an effort to prepare the company for increased competition - created by governmental deregulation - for the sale of power to wholesale and possibly retail customers. Some industry observers expect that one day even consumers on the residential level will be able to choose among companies for their supply of power.
In June, AEP Chairman E. Linn Draper named Vipperman to head AEP's new Energy Transmission and Distribution Group as part of the reorganization. Vipperman initially said he hoped to maintain his residence and an office in Roanoke, but recently he said he would move to AEP headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.
Like Apco, itself, the job of the regional utility's president will for all practical purposes cease to exist after the new year starts. To handle consumer and governmental relations in the states where it operates, AEP has created the job of state president. Dan Carson Jr., an Apco vice president, will be state president for both Virginia and Tennessee, based in Roanoke. Marsha Ryan, Apco's director of customer and marketing services in Roanoke, will be state president for Ohio.
Although Apco will be a thing of the past, AEP is expected to maintain a significant headquarters presence in Roanoke, and the company's role in civic affairs should not be diminished, Hasty said.
Hasty, himself, is leaving Roanoke to join AEP's corporate communications office in Columbus on Jan. 1.
by CNB