Eighty-three ActewAGL staff will lose their jobs, mostly on the networks side of the business, after the national energy regulator made a substantial cut to its operating spending.
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Chief executive Michael Costello said 17 jobs would go from among corporate staff and 66 from networks, split evenly across field jobs, including linesmen, electricians and cable jointers, and office jobs, including management, engineering and customer call staff.
Decisions would be made over the next week and staff consultation would begin on Tuesday, May 19. People would leave in July, and again in September and October.
"This continues to be an extremely difficult time for our people and our organisation," Mr Costello said.
ActewAGL had warned of 190 job losses if the decision went ahead, but Mr Costello said the board had opted for fewer.
One option in front of the board was a cut of about 160 jobs, which would have guaranteed that operating spending would come in on budget. The decision for 83 job cuts carried a risk that the budget wouldn't be met, but it was as far as the board was prepared to go, he said.
"They decided not to do it, first because they thought the hit to the organisation we had take over the last couple of years and now was just too much, and second - and primarily - they thought it did raise questions abut the safety of the network. And they weren't prepared to risk that."
The organisation had already lost close to 200 staff, including long-term contractors, over two years.
Mr Costello warned of slower response times to electrical faults and more blackouts.
"Our customers need to understand that the [regulator's] decision to slash our operating expenditure will mean we can no longer operate and maintain our network to continue to deliver the most reliable electricity supply in Australia," he said. "Customers can expect more blackouts that last longer, plus slower response times. But we won't compromise safety for our staff or the community.
"All this for the sake of a saving of $1 a week for a typical Canberra household."
Actew will challenge the regulator's decision at the Australian Competition Tribunal and the Federal Court.
Electrical Trades Union assistant secretary Neville Betts said staff were demoralised, but he blamed the energy regulator rather than ActewAGL.
"The fact is that ActewAGL have not planned for this, it's not their doing," he said. "They're having to react to reductions from the ridiculous propositions of the AER – this fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the AER."
The union is waiting to hear which specific jobs are targeted to go, but Mr Betts said the cuts would hit services to the community and response times for electricity faults.
David Smith, director of Professionals Australia, which represents engineers and technical staff at ActewAGL, said the job cuts, though less than predicted last year, would hit maintenance and new infrastructure. That in turn would hit economic growth and help for the public, especially after significant weather events.
He called on the ACT government to ensure electrical industry expertise was not lost to the territory.
