TVA extends retirement, severance offers to cut jobs
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority offered voluntary early retirement and buyout packages to employees Monday as part of efforts to cut its debt.
Employees in departments where TVA has found surplus staffing were asked to volunteer for retirement or a reduction in force. TVA executives said Monday they didn’t know how many employees were offered the option to leave voluntarily, and they didn’t offer a target for the number of positions they hope to eliminate.
But if enough volunteers don’t come forward, TVA will announce mandatory retirements and layoffs April 22, officials said. The agency has 13,245 employees — down from about 34,000 in the 1980s.
The nation’s largest public utility aims to cut payroll and other costs to help prepare for eventual industry deregulation. TVA hopes to trim its $25 billion to $26 billion debt by $3 billion to $5 billion in a decade.
“Reductions in force — if they are appropriate — are only a part of this,” TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough said. “This is difficult but it’s a necessary step that TVA is taking to ensure that TVA remains strong for the future.”
TVA officials also said Monday they have identified $247 million in cuts to capital costs in 2005. Additional savings also have been found in operating and maintenance and support service costs, and department reviews are ongoing.
Employees in departments where TVA has found surplus staffing were targeted for voluntary retirement. People whose jobs are critical to TVA operations, such as generation and transmission, would not be urged to leave.
“TVA is a large organization so we trust management to review every program and say, ‘How important is every program to keeping the lights on and in doing our part for clean air and a strong economy and how many people are necessary to ensure the program is successful?'” McCullough said.
Employees have until March 15 to decide whether to accept the severance package, and managers have until March 29 to approve the requests. May 28 is the termination date for employees taking voluntary retirement.
Employees who are approved and have worked at TVA for five or more years will receive severance benefits that include five days’ pay for each full year of employment and extended medical insurance coverage.
The strategic plan TVA recently adopted noted that about four of 10 employees will be reaching retirement age in the next five years.
The Knoxville-based agency supplies electricity to 8.3 million consumers in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.
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On the Net:
Tennessee Valley Authority: http://www.tva.gov
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