 Seattle City Light
News Release |
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| Subject:
Major Changes Announced at Seattle City Light |
For Immediate Release:
12/16/2004 8:51:00 AM |
For More Information Contact:
24-hour media line (206) 386-4233
|
Major Changes Announced at Seattle City Light
SEATTLE— Seattle City Light
Superintendent Jorge Carrasco today announced a major change in the
organizational structure of the public utility that supplies electrical power to
residential and commercial customers in Seattle.
Carrasco said the new structure will make City Light more
efficient and help the utility focus more strategically on the four key elements
of its work:
- Producing power
- Serving customers
- Managing money
- Supporting the great people at City Light who make it all
happen.
"I was brought to the utility to make constructive
changes that will benefit the long-term interests of our customers and the
utility they own," Carrasco said. "These changes are happening because
of a powerful consensus of the Mayor, the City Council, the City Light Advisory
Board and our own employees, all of whom have said they want to see positive
change and continuous improvement."
The nine executive positions now reporting to the
Superintendent will be reduced to four, Carrasco said, giving him the ability to
spend more time on what he called the core elements of his job: customer
service, strategy, and participating in the debate about the future of
electricity in the Pacific Northwest. The new, combined business units in the
organization will be led by four executives:
- Power Supply Officer
, responsible
for all functions related to power generation, including power plant
operations, power marketing, integrated resources planning and licensing.
- Customer Service Officer
,
responsible for managing activities related to the delivery of our product to
our customers, including all power distribution, account and customer services
and the System Control Center.
- Chief Financial Officer
,
responsible for our financial affairs, risk management, strategic planning and
information technology.
- Human Services Officer
,
responsible for all functions supporting employees, including Safety and the
Apprenticeship program.
In addition, Carrasco said he was creating an Office of the
Superintendent, which will include Communications and Public Affairs, External
Affairs, City Council and Advisory Board coordination, and the daily
administrative activities of the office.
"The tangible benefits of these changes will be better
customer service, greater accountability, higher performance at all levels of
the organization, and greater management attention on what is truly important to
customers," he said.
Carrasco said that four individuals have announced their
retirements in the last few weeks, and the reorganized structure would replace
just one. This results in a net reduction of three top executive positions.
Carrasco said that this is only the first step in change at
the utility. He said that this organizational design is focused on the top of
the institution and that the new design will cascade down through the second and
third levels of City Light over the next three months.
Early next week, Carrasco said that he planned to announce the
personnel who will fill the lead positions in the four business units.
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City
Light
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