Nine Homer Electric Association employees are now looking for new jobs after electricity sales stalled last winter.
HEA’s Joe Gallagher said households have been consuming less electricity over the past few years. While that may reflect well on an individual meter, Gallagher said the drop in sales means HEA had to cut costs, eventually leading to the job losses.
Gallagher: “As we all become more energy efficient, conservation has taken hold and that’s a good thing, and that has resulted in energy sales declining. In addition to the conservation and efficiency of appliances, we’ve also seen a series of warm winters and that has also had an impact on energy sales as well. I think it’s a combination of both.”
In 2012, HEA energy sales were 490,000 megawatt hours. In 2013 that dropped to 482,000 and in 2014 it fell even further to 465,000 megawatt hours. Just in the first three months of this year, Gallagher said HEA’s sales came in $1 million less than projected.
The utility cut $9 million in expenses during the 2015 budget process. Gallagher said despite their best efforts to streamline operations and keep costs low, the personnel cuts became necessary.
General Manager Brad Janorschke regretted the dismissals, saying, “The decision to eliminate the positions was extremely difficult, particularly because of the impact it would have on valuable, hard-working employees whose efforts have not gone unnoticed. It is anticipated these reductions will provide HEA with the financial stability we need at this time.”
HEA now has 140 full-time employees and two part-time employees spread across their network from Homer to Nikiski.