All Union Labor at Colorado Power House

from the DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL: 12:14 PM MDT Wednesday
Xcel, union reach agreement on Pueblo project
Cathy Proctor

Xcel Energy Inc.'s new $1.35 billion coal-fired power plant in Pueblo will be built by all-union labor, according to a Project Labor Agreement reached Monday between the state's largest utility and the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council.



"We're calling it an historic agreement," said Neal Hall, business manager for the council.

"We felt the Project Labor Agreement was important. All employees that would work on construction would have to come through the union," said Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz, adding that the power plant would not have been halted if an agreement failed to be reached.

The Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council, an arm of the AFL-CIO, has 31 local craft unions who represent 15 national and international unions. The council represents about 30,000 workers in Colorado.

The percentage of union workers on the project had been a sticking point in negotiations with Pueblo's city council, which needs to annex the land the power plant will sit on in order to reap millions in property taxes from the utility. Xcel also needs the annexation to ensure the power plant will get about 5,500 acre feet of water a year -- even during drought conditions -- from the city's water department.

In a drought, Pueblo's water department can only guarantee water to city customers. Negotiations on water sources are continuing, Stutz said.

Xcel (NYSE: XEL) had offered to ensure 60 percent of the construction work would be done by union workers. But that offer was rejected by the local and national unions. The construction project is expected to peak at 1,500 jobs.

"Forty percent of the jobs would have been coming from out of state or out of the country. That's too many jobs," Hall said. "We weren't willing to give up the apprenticeship programs [in Pueblo's schools.] An apprentice can start this project and when it's finished, he'll be a journeyman.

"Right now the biggest problem is the people working construction here don't live here. We want this money to stay in Colorado and support our economy and pay decent wages so our members can raise a family and send their children to college if they want," Hall said.

Construction on the 750-megawatt power plant, capable of serving about 750,000 homes, is expected to start this fall and be complete in 2009. State utility regulators have signed off on the plant, and a hearing on air quality permits from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is slated for June 9.

Under the terms of the agreement, strikes and lockouts are prohibited, while Xcel's right to manage its project and to select the most qualified contractors is protected. The contract also provides a preference for local workers, even when the successful bidder is based out-of-state, according to the council.



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