IT'S ALIVE!
Valley Generating Station on line for summer
by Frank Miramontes, Local 18 President
Two and a half years ago, the In-Basin Generation Labor/Management Committee met in an executive conference room at the GOB to hear the bad news: In-basin generation would not be viable in the coming deregulated environment. Color graphs and charts were projected on the screen, a slick report summary was passed out, and the consultant group that the department had hired for millions of dollars showed why the department should get out of the generation business.
We called for an extensive study by the Labor/Management team, and the Cost of Production study was launched. In the following months, the committee went over every aspect of generation costs, challenging management assumptions and fighting to keep in-basin generation viable. Compromises were made; in particular, we agreed to the virtual decommissioning of Valley Generating Station. We insisted, however, that the shutdown be accomplished in a way that preserved the plant’s viability in case it was needed.
It hasn’t taken long to see that management was dead wrong about generation. Last summer, the first under the deregulated environment, saw the in-basin plants making big bucks for the department, and this summer’s projected requirements are so great that the department has taken the radical step of recommissioning Valley Generating Station Units 3 and 4, which will come on line this summer.
There’s a twofold driving force behind the decision. First, there is money to be made in electricity production in the reregulated environment. Second, there is the threat of competition: If we don’t make the power, there are competitors waiting in the wings to fill the gap.
And there is a third reason to keep in-basin generation viable: Local generation supports the community in times of emergency. This is a value that has often been disregarded by shortsighted DWP management, but in the long run it could be extremely important to the city.
The severe staffing hits we took with last year’s staff reduction program could impact our ability to function this summer. VGS is now seen as a summer-only operation, and we have cooperated with the Department to develop flexible staffing plans that will allow personnel to be temporarily assigned to the staff for summer only. But summer is also the high-work season at the other in-basin plants. We need more bodies! At least 25 new hires are needed in in-basin generation. A Local 18 plan to deploy retirees as temporary workers coming out of the union hall will apparently not be accepted. Meeting the demands on in-basin generation during the coming peak season will be a tremendous challenge to Local 18 members.
Our view of the continued viability of in-basin generation has been strongly vindicated. Now it is up to management to see that we have the staff to do the job.