THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508260374
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Continuing a cost-cutting restructuring announced earlier this year, Virginia Power said Friday that it will eliminate another 175 jobs, including 16 in Hampton Roads and 11 in northeastern North Carolina.
The utility, a unit of Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc., said about 105 of the latest job cuts will be in the Richmond area. The single biggest operation hit is the company's Innsbrook Technical Center in Henrico County near Richmond. There, 84 jobs will be cut in a streamlining of technical and engineering functions related to Virginia Power's coal-fired and hydroelectric power plants.
``It's regrettable whenever you have to release people,'' said Bill Byrd, a Virginia Power spokesman. ``But there is no other choice in order to remain competitive and to maintain stable rates.''
Virginia Power, like electric utilities throughout the country, has been slashing costs as regulators and lawmakers gradually loosen monopolies long enjoyed by power companies.
The latest job cuts bring to 370 the number of positions already eliminated or slated for elimination since Virginia Power announced details of its Vision 2000 restructuring in March. The utility, the state's largest power generator, now has about 10,700 employees, including about 2,350 in Hampton Roads and roughly 300 in northeastern North Carolina.
Byrd said more cuts will probably take place, but he said it is impossible to estimate the number.
The size of the reduction will depend largely on how many functions Virginia Power decides to turn over to outside contractors. The utility has said as many as 700 jobs could be cut if it ``outsources'' certain administrative and support services. Most of those positions are in the Richmond area.
With the latest cuts, the utility has largely completed streamlining the management of its non-nuclear power plants and its commercial field operations, Byrd said. But he said an ongoing ``re-engineering'' could lead to some further staff reductions next year.
The utility's nuclear power plants, including the Surry Power Station, are also slated to be scrutinized for potential cost reductions next year.
One big change since the implementation of the Vision 2000 plan is that many managers have taken on additional functions.
Byrd noted, for instance, that the utility's non-nuclear plant managers now supervise more than one facility. David Craymer, manager of the Chesapeake Energy Center, also now oversees the Yorktown Power Station.
Seven employees at the Chesapeake plant and six at Yorktown are among those whose jobs are being eliminated in the latest round of work force reductions.
Most of the employees affected will leave the company Sept. 1. Their separation package includes two months' paid administrative leave, a special $5,000 to $10,000 lump-sum payment to help with a job search and up to 18 months of severance pay. The company also said it will pay the terminated employees' life and health insurance for six months. ILLUSTRATION: Virginia Power
by CNB