Utility Workers Grab Deal To Quit Dozens Of Wwp, Sierra Pacific Employees Volunteer To Take Severance Package

Don’t block the exits at Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources.

Workers at both utilities, which will combine this fall to become Resources West Energy, have snapped at severance packages in twice the numbers projected earlier this year, said Don Kopczynski, WWP transition manager.

Some workers facing relocation want to remain in Spokane, he said, while others have become weary of the rapid pace of change in the utilities industry.

At Spokane-based WWP, 94 employees volunteered to take a severance package that rewards them with 12 weeks of bonus pay, Kopczynski said.

All the applications were accepted, and 26 workers have already left the company, he said.

Kopczynski said most of the rest will stay on until the merger occurs, with some likely to remain into 1996. Eight employees who chose to retire early also will remain with the company until the merger closes, he said.

Kopczynski said Sierra Pacific has accepted only half the 150 severance applications submitted by its workers but many more - 37 - early retirement bids.

The Reno-based utility has deferred a decision on the remaining severance applications until officials have a better handle on exactly who they want to retain, and where.

“The intent is to pick the best people,” he said.

Kopczynski said WWP and Sierra Pacific officials put together their severance and early retirement packages after looking at examples from other utilities. The average acceptance rate of those companies’ proposals was about 8 percent, he said.

By comparison, almost 20 percent of those eligible at WWP and Sierra Pacific applied for severance, he said.

Kopczynski attributed the response to information employees were given about the restructuring that would accompany the merger.

“People saw their job being changed so they weren’t interested in it,” he said.

Increasing competition, Kopczynski added, has already transformed WWP, and the process will continue.

“They’re tired of that,” he said. “They’re disturbed by that.”

For others, relocation was a hangup, Kopczynski said.

He also noted that the severance programs at other utilities were geared toward downsizing, not a merger.

He said more employees will have until August 1 to apply for early retirement, which is open to those with 15 years of service and a combined total of experience and age of 70.

Early retirees retain their benefits, and receive maximum monthly payment of $800 for up to seven years to bridge the period to Social Security.

For those accepting the severance offer, pay will be granted at the rate of 2.5 weeks per year of service, plus a 12-week bonus for those who signed up by May 12.

A reduced severance package is also available until August 1, but Kopczynski said he doubted many will accept it.

Still unclear is the fate of 60 employees of EDS Corp., which provides information services to WWP. EDS Vice President Glenn Jackson said he has been working with the utilities on combining information systems, but there has been no discussion of whether the services will be done in-house or by an outside vendor such as EDS.

“They’re going to see what we can bring just to get through the consolidation,” Jackson said.

In filings with state regulators, WWP and Sierra Pacific say they expect to cut 118 and 254 jobs, respectively, from their payrolls as a result of the merger.

The reductions will reduce the number employed by WWP in the five states where it operates to 1,335. Sierra Pacific, which serves two states, will employ 1,528.