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Progress Energy Cutback To Cost 151 People Their Jobs

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 28, 2008

TAMPA - Nearly 300 jobs at Progress Energy Florida will be eliminated this year, the St. Petersburg-based utility said today.

About half those positions, though, are vacant. About 151 people will lose their jobs.

Executives attribute the layoffs to Florida's distressed housing market, lower-than-expected electricity sales and a restructuring of the company.

The job cuts are confined to the company's energy delivery unit, which employs linemen and other workers who maintain and repair the utility's network of power lines and substations.

"Laying off employees is never our first choice," said Jeff Lyash, president and chief executive of Progress Energy Florida. "But we have a responsibility to ensure that our staffing and resources match our changing business needs."

Some employees will take jobs in other places within the company, Progress Energy said.

Progress Energy provides power to nearly 1.7 million Florida customers in central and north Florida, including Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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