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Delegates to the 40^th annual IBEW Utility Conference took a candid look at the progress they have made in the battle to affect electric utility deregulation. The conference, held April 27-May 1 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, dealt with many issues, but chief among those was the continued attempt by self-serving interests to change the structure of the industry.

The most positive news was that there has been no federal legislation mandating restructuring of the electric utility in the United States, nor is there likely to be in the remainder of this Congress. This is due largely to the fact that the IBEW has been able to plant doubts about the unfounded claims of our opposition and establish credibility for its own agenda. The union has also had a major impact in several states on the legislation that has passed for utility deregulation. Its influence on this legislation has been the result of the grassroots nature of our mobilization. The IBEW’s message has been built around customer service and concern for communities. Where local unions mount a campaign and establish coalitions, their voices have been heeded.

There is another issue raised by utility deregulation, one that has a potential impact on union solidarity. In a deregulated industry, utilities are seeking the freedom to expand into new phases of the business — seeking to compete in the outside construction market — blurring traditional craft and jurisdictional lines within the IBEW. Since there is no easy answer to a development like this, the Construction and Utility Departments are working closely together to determine potential areas of conflict and provide reasonable options and recommendations for action. Mike Daugherty, Director of the Construction Department, attended the conference in order to listen and gain the utility perspective of the issues, just as Utility Department staff had done in attending the Construction and Maintenance Conference earlier in April.

Additional steps are being taken to update and improve the tools that have been provided to the locals. The IBEW Journal will continue to be the communications vehicle that informs members about the changing status of this fight. Model language for collective bargaining and state legislation will be developed and updated as necessary. A number of utility local representatives will attend the Political/Legislative Conference held in Washington, D.C., in September to discuss the issue of deregulation and its effects with their elected representatives in Congress.

The winds of change are also gathering world-wide, as the move toward privatization takes hold internationally. Brendan Fenelon, Executive Councillor of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in the United Kingdom told the delegates about the world-wide utility market.

"Change" has definitely been a word on the lips of utility workers for the last six years, and it looks as if it will stay there for several years to come. Delegates left the conference better informed about issues confronting them and charged up to continue the fight.

Just Say No!

Just when we thought that deregulation was dead in the Maryland General Assembly, the energy conglomerate Enron and their allies attempted an eleventh hour push to force a start date for competition in the electric utility industry.

The General Assembly had already considered a deregulation bill and decided the issue needed more study. Then, along came the Big Dog with an amendment stating, "Customer retail access to competitive electric supplies shall commence on July 3, 2000 for all or a portion of investor-owned utility customers." It was cleverly attached to HB10, called the Public Service Companies — Holding Companies bill, when the hearings had already been completed. HB 10 exempted the formation of holding companies by public service companies in a specified manner, from specified restrictions on the holding and acquisition of stock of and by public service companies. All six Maryland utilities — their employees, shareholders, lobbyists, CEOs, the IBEW and the AFL-CIO were united in actively opposing the amendment. The amendment was meant to accomplish one thing— open up the Maryland electric system to outside sellers of power and circumvent the study which would look at stranded costs, recovery mechanisms, price protections, unbundled rates and a host of other issues. The success of the intensive grassroots lobbying proved that big money can’t always buy power.

Unite and Fight Revisited

Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and legislators recently signed into law the Wisconsin Reliability Act, a plan to make sure Wisconsin residents will have enough electricity in the future, with a reasonable cost. Customer’s First!, a broad coalition representing consumer, environmental, farm, senior citizen, and labor groups as well as small business, munis and coops and Madison Gas and Electric Company, worked on the legislation with the governor. One of the most important parts of the bill requires that standards for inspecting, maintaining and repairing generation, transmission and distribution be established by the Commission. The legislation recognizes that these standards are necessary for safe and reliable operations. "What we hope we have done is borrowed from the successes of our Brothers and Sisters in California, expanded them so that these maintenance and service standards become a model for other states or national legislation. We can take the high road in the deregulation debate by fighting for reliable industry service for customers and, in the process, protect the jobs of our members," said Dave Poklinkoski, business manager, Local 2304, Madison, Wisconsin and active member of Customer’s First!. ( For more details about the controversy surrounding deregulation in Wisconsin, see the IBEW Journal, October 1997, "Unite and Fight," pages 10-13.

Utility Department Web Site

Looking for information on the Internet regarding the IBEW’s stand on utility restructuring? You can access it by contacting the IBEW web page at www.IBEW.org , clicking on Departments and then clicking on Utility. The Utility web site contains information on deregulation in the electric utility industry and links to other sites containing related information.

Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Plan "Growth Merger"

Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Resources have agreed to become the latest investor-owned utilities to merge and form a new $4-billion holding company. The new utility will be called Sierra Pacific Resources. It will serve more than 800,000 electric, 100,000 gas and 65,000 water customers living in densely populated areas of Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area of California. The merger is expected to lead to $350 million in savings, with about half in lower labor costs and the remainder through administrative savings. Why is it that the workers are the ones that pay the price for the merged companies’ increased profits and market share?

Nevada Power is based in Las Vegas and provides power to more than 1.2 million residents in southern Nevada. Sierra Pacific, headquartered in Reno, provides electric service to 287,000 customers in northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe. In addition the company provides natural gas and water service to customers in the Reno-Sparks area.

About 2000 IBEW members from Local Unions 396, Las Vegas, Nevada and 1245, Walnut Creek, California, are affected.

Washington State Has "Common Sense"

Local 77, Seattle, Washington has taken a leadership role in the battle to deregulate the electric utility industry in Washington. They are a founding member of the Coalition for Common Sense, a group of labor, environmental, consumer organizations and some power providers. Their message is simple: "Show us. Show us how deregulating electric utilities will lower costs in our region and improve service reliability." Business Manager John Horrocks said, "We don’t think they can. We think common sense is needed here. The kind of common sense our parents and grandparents passed on to us. The kind that says, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’" Local 77 is urging its members to call their state legislators, electric power providers and city council members. Coalition members have met with elected officials, utilities, media representatives, tribes and environmental groups as well as other to ascertain their position of this important issue. "We’re fighting to keep our industry safe, reliable and accessible to all Americans," emphasized Horrocks. "Common Sense will stop this bad deal from happening."

No Sale in Memphis

In the April, 1998 IBEW Journal, we reported that Mayor Willie Herenton of Memphis, Tennessee had commissioned a study that could lead to the sale of Memphis Light, Gas and Water. The $150, 000 plus study was inconclusive. The consultant, Rotan Lee, president of Talleyrand Atlantic, LLC, could not recommend sale and so, the City Council passed a unanimous resolution in March for "No Sale." Brent Hall, president of Local 1288, Memphis responded to the news saying, "I’m glad the City Council did the right thing. Selling MLGW would not be good for the city of Memphis or for the residents of Shelby County. Our members showed great strength and unity in this process. It showed how a union is an asset to workers. Those same workers allow MLGW to provide its customers with good service at low rates. We plan to continue to improve on that tradition."

Memphis City Councilwoman Pat VanderShaff, who sponsored the no-sale resolution, said, "I can’t say enough good things about all the hard work that Brent Hall and Local 1288 did. The night of our vote, 1,500 members of Local 1288 showed up in force. It was heartening to see so many people— black and white, male and female— in unity, tell the mayor not to sell our public utility."

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