THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170177
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Virginia Power's massive restructuring took another deep cut Thursday as the company announced it will terminate 154 jobs at three coal-fired power plants, including 53 at its Chesapeake Energy Center.
In percentage terms, the latest cutbacks are some of the largest since the Richmond-based utility embarked on its cost-cutting restructuring last March.
The planned job cuts in Chesapeake represent about 29 percent of the power plant's 183-person work force. About one of every four workers at the Chesterfield and Bremo power stations will be dismissed.
William R. Cartwright, a Virginia Power senior vice president who oversees the plants, said the reductions are unfortunate but necessary in an industry that is becoming more competitive.
He estimated that the cost of operating the plants will be slashed by as much as 30 percent through the job cutbacks and other changes. He said the reduction will help Virginia Power hang onto its largest customers, an increasing number of which are taking advantage of changes in laws and regulations that let them shop for power among different utilities.
Employees affected in the latest wave of cuts won't be notified until after the first of the year, Virginia Power said. Ironically, many of the plants' workers participated in a ``re-engineering'' process that pinpointed efficiency improvements that will eliminate jobs.
Cartwright conceded that employee morale is ``not as its best,'' but insisted that for the most part workers ``really believe in what they've done.''
With these cutbacks, Virginia Power has since March targeted almost 850 jobs for elimination out of a total work force of about 10,700. That follows a reduction of 3,500 in the previous decade.
Bill Byrd, a Virginia Power spokesman, said some significant parts of the utility's operation - including its nuclear power plants and its field- and customer-service operations - haven't yet been subjected to a thorough analysis that could wring out even more jobs.
In addition, three more coal or hydroelectric plants, including the Yorktown Power Station, are going through re-engineering.
One of the biggest changes at the coal-fired plants, including Chesapeake, will be in how maintenance work is planned and done, Cartwright said.
He said Virginia Power will generally try to run operating equipment longer before taking it out of service for overhaul or replacement.
He said the majority of routine repairs will be done without planners detailing the procedure, which he said is a reverse of current practice. And plant operators will be asked to step in and do simple maintenance that doesn't required skilled craftsman like a machinist or electrician. Production and maintenance employees will eventually work on the same teams, Cartwright added.
This streamlining of work processes is mainly why the utility decided to cut the plants' work forces so dramatically, he said.
Some workers have complained that the changes may increase safety risks. But utility spokesman Byrd said the concern is unfounded. The company ``could not afford for safety to be compromised,'' he said. by CNB