Coop Offers Early Retirement Packages to Cut Costs
The Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative has offered early retirement to more than one-third of its employees as a cost cutting measure intended to keep rates lower. Full-time employees 54 or older were offered “voluntary special early retirement,” which includes insurance coverage through April 30, 2012, and a retraining program for anyone who wants to re-enter the workforce. The Virginia-area coop estimates that if all 10 employees take the early retirement, it would save the electric cooperative $500,000 a year. The coop cites rising costs, attributed to Environmental Protection Agency regulations on Appalachian Power and other power companies that supply electric power to electric coops, as the reason for the decision. A description of the measure can be found here.
