These guys filed a bunch of complaints against Sempra too, back when Sempra owned the plant.---sch

Duke's Calif Whistleblowers Have History Of Grievances  Updated: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 07:36 PM ET 
By Jason Leopold 
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Three former employees who last week told California lawmakers Duke Energy (DUK </investments/quotes/?symbol=DUK>, news </investments/news/?symbol=DUK>, msgs </investments/discuss/?symbol=DUK>) ramped down its South Bay power plant when supplies were tight filed a total of 34 complaints while they were still working at the plant, including allegations of harassment and racial discrimination, the men told Dow Jones Newswires. 
Most of the grievances were filed between 1999 and 2001 against the plant's previous owner, Sempra Energy (SRE </investments/quotes/?symbol=SRE>, news </investments/news/?symbol=SRE>, msgs </investments/discuss/?symbol=SRE>) unit San Diego Gas & Electric, for which the men continued to work while Duke controlled the plant. But interviews with the three men also revealed a dissatisfaction with Duke's profit-centered management style in the deregulated market. 
Duke has called the employees' allegations about its operating procedures "baseless." Duke has said the employees have an "ax to grind," because they weren't hired by the company in April when escrow on the power plant closed and Duke acquired some of SDG&E's workforce. 
The men are the first to come forward publicly and testify against their employers, who are locked in a high-stakes struggle with the state of California over allegations of price gouging. The state is pursuing billions of dollars in refunds from power producers and hopes to bring criminal charges against their executives. 
Glenn Johnson, 52, a mechanic at the South Bay power plant, alone filed 30 complaints. On one occasion, Johnson said he called the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, because an unqualified employee was found scraping up asbestos. He also has a harassment complaint against SDG&E regarding an employee who now works for Duke, but Johnson said his lawyer told him not to discuss it. 
Aside from the formal complaints, Johnson said under the Duke regime he was disciplined for taking too much sick time after being out for 10 months for cancer treatment. 
"This is just the kind of abuse we had to endure ever since this became a business," he said. 
One of the other employees, Jim Olkjer, 56, a former assistant control room operator at the power plant, filed three complaints against SDG&E while Duke operated the plant, because his evaluations consistently said he needed supervision. The grievances were either turned down or settled, he said. 
Olkjer said he decided to testify against Duke after he learned he wouldn't be hired by the energy company when it took over plant operations in April. 
"I'm on a fixed income now," Olkjer said in an interview. "I can't afford my utility bills on a fixed income." 
The third employee, Ed Edwards, 42, a certified power plant mechanic, said he filed one complaint against three SDG&E employees in 1999 for racial discrimination. One of the employees was hired by Duke. That case is still pending. 
Edwards, an African-American, said Duke didn't hire qualified minority employees after it took over the plant and instead hired less-qualified white employees. Edwards said the two minority supervisors that worked at the plant under SDG&E were replaced with white employees when Duke took over. 
Edwards, who stopped working at the plant in February, said he decided to testify against Duke after receiving a phone call from Johnson. 
"I knew I wouldn't be hired," he said. 
Edwards and Johnson filed charges of harassment and racial discrimination against SDG&E with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 
SDG&E spokesman Art Larson wouldn't comment on the allegations. Duke spokesman Tom Williams said the company stands by its hiring practices and "always hires the most qualified employees." 
In 1999, Duke settled a 1996 discrimination claim with the U.S. Department of Labor for $769,700, in which the department found some areas where white females and black males were paid less than white male and black female counterparts in similar positions. 
Dissatisfaction With New Priorities 
The former employees said they weren't motivated to blow the whistle on Duke by the prospects of cashing in on a possible settlement with the state. Johnson first alerted the media about Duke's behavior before state Attorney General Bill Lockyer mentioned financial rewards for whistleblowers. 
The employees each earned about $1,000 a week. 
All three employees said they believe Duke mismanaged the South Bay power plant by ramping the units up and down, tossing out spare parts, and operating machinery when it was broken. Olkjer said he saw the plant's output reduced during the worst power emergencies "at least 50 times." 
When Edwards questioned his supervisors about the behavior he said they told him, "It's none of your business." 
The employees said that Duke was more concerned with making money than the happiness of its staff, and that the company tried to bust its union contract when it first took over the plant. 
"I was paid to twist wrenches," Johnson said. "The last raise I got two years ago was 2.25%. That's an insult to my skill." 
Duke said it is bringing the former SDG&E employees under its contract with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245. The workers were previously represented by another local, and Duke wanted a single contract. 
Johnson said he decided to blow the whistle on Duke because he was disgusted by the company's "gluttony and greed." He said he stole the control room logs in February after a colleague pointed out to him that Duke was reducing output at the plant. 
Johnson, Edwards and Olkjer said "in the old days" the power plant ran at full throttle and never ramped up or down. But as soon as deregulation became law in the state, things started to change. SDG&E would also vary the plant's output, but not as dramatically as Duke did, they said. 
"To the best of my recollection, we had years of being extremely reliable and being on line all the time," Edwards said. "Once Duke took the reins, that changed. We were no longer a family." 
Duke has said that it adjusted the plant's output to meet its contractual commitments and to respond to the directions of the California Independent System Operator, manager of the state's power grid. 
The ISO frequently directed plants to ramp output up and down to meet changing requirements on the grid, and the employees who testified weren't in a position to know the whole picture, said Bill Hall, vice president of Duke's western operations. 
Duke spokesman Tom Williams said the company plans to release data showing the ISO ordered the plant to ramp up and down Jan. 16-18, the period cited from the control-room logs, to keep supply in balance. A copy of the ISO control-room logs obtained by Dow Jones Newswires shows that the ISO did make such orders during a Stage 3 emergency, because it didn't need Duke's capacity, which it thought too expensive. 
-By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874; jason.leopold@dowjones.com <mailto:jason.leopold@dowjones.com> 


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