Power still out for hundreds of thousands in Ohio

Sept. 21—When Hurricane Ike got as far north as Ohio, the media called it the “remnants” or “remains” of the storm. For millions of working-class households here, that was a poor choice of words. While the suffering in Ohio cannot compare to Texas, the damage in 84 of Ohio’s 88 counties was enough for the governor to declare a state of emergency.

Nearly one week later, hundreds of thousands of households are still in the dark. The majority of those without power are in the southwest part of the state. This includes 59,000 Dayton Power and Light and 85,000 Duke Energy customers. Duke covers the Cincinnati area but also rural Butler and Warren counties, where 18,000 residences wait for service to be restored.

In addition, 77,000 in the Columbus area, served by American Electric Power, are unsure when their lights will come back on. Northeast Ohio fared better, but it was a week before First Energy got the power back on and a few hundred homes still lack service.

Days of school closings have posed a hardship to working parents. For all but the affluent, losing the ability to refrigerate food is more than an inconvenience.

Elderly and physically challenged individuals dependent on oxygen are in big danger. “Facing a fifth day without power, the residents of a senior housing community in western Ohio took to the street Friday with signs to protest the failure of Dayton Power and Light Co. to restore electricity. Power outages are more than an inconvenience at the retirement community in Beavercreek, east of Dayton, where some residents depend on oxygen devices, 911 service and working elevators. The protest seemed to get a reaction. Within hours of residents heading to the curb with their placards, crews were working to restore power.” (Associated Press, Sept. 21)

One would be hard-pressed to blame electrical workers’ laziness for the crisis. Many around the state have been working 16-hour shifts, a schedule that increases the likelihood of injury in an already hazardous occupation. Since Ike hit, more than one utility worker has been killed working to restore power around the country.

However, since 1992 when Congress voted to allow states to deregulate the energy industry, massive layoffs have occurred throughout Ohio. Unions have blamed these layoffs for declining service. A 2001 report by the Utility Workers Union of America stated that “in a recent survey of its locals the UWUA found that its staffing levels around the country are down 35 percent compared to 1991. Workers are worried about system reliability, their own safety, and safety of the public.”

After a power outage affecting 50 million homes in August 2003, due to a cascading problem with the country’s energy grid, a news release from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers charged that, “In the 10 years since utility deregulation was first introduced, power companies have built or updated very few new transmission lines. Today demand continues to climb, but transmission investment in 2000 was less than half of what it was in 1975. In general, training programs for workers have been reduced or suspended indefinitely. The work force has been reduced by one third in the past 10 years, with an obvious impact on maintenance.”

Akron-based First Energy was blamed by many for initially triggering the 2003 disaster.

The outage should have been a wake-up call, but the workforce reductions continued throughout the industry. Recently postings on a Web site for frustrated Duke Energy employees stated that, “In 1988, Duke further reduced knowledgeable workers by having its first company-wide layoff. Over the years, Duke has tried to shove the most experienced employees out the door by offering ‘Voluntary Separation Opportunities’—paying people to retire. In 2007, eligible employees were enticed to retire with a $50,000 insurance benefit.”

Unfortunately, a great deal of publicity was given to an isolated incident of an angry customer threatening a utility worker. However, the bulk of public anger is directed at the power companies—and for good reason.