WA:Most of 800 mill workers face layoff due to power prices

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Most of 800 mill workers face layoff due to power prices The Associated Press 12/7/00 3:40 AM

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) -- Most of the approximately 800 employees at Georgia-Pacific West Inc.'s pulp and paper mill will be laid off in a mill shutdown prompted by a new surge in electricity prices.

A similar shutdown last June lasted just two days but General Manager Jim Cunningham refused to speculate on how long this closure would last.

Some workers said they were told they might not be back on the job for as long as two weeks.

The shutdown began Wednesday and most of the workers will be out of work by Friday, Cunningham said.

Earlier this fall, the market price of electricity was holding relatively steady at $100 per megawatt hour. That's more than double what G-P had been paying at the same period a year ago, but only a fraction of the prices that triggered the June shutdown. The latest decision to suspend operations was made late Tuesday, when the market price of electricity hit $400 a megawatt hour.

"We can't pay that, so we're not running," Cunningham said.

And next week, when a cold wave is expected, forecasters are predicting market prices will soar much higher.

Resumption of normal operations isn't likely unless the price of power falls back below the $100 range, Cunningham said.

Some employees will stay on the job to provide security and make sure no equipment freezes. Cunningham said he didn't have exact figures on how many would be retained.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?o1656_BC_WA--G-PLayoffs&&news&newsflash-oregon

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 07, 2000


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