Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bonneville Power Administration Hiring Practices - Report from the Inspector General (U-S Department of Energy)


SPECIAL INQUIRY: DOE/IG-0895

Review of Allegations Regarding Prohibited Personnel Practices at the Bonneville Power Administration


“…In total, the immediate costs to quantify the extent of the problem and design corrective action, not including the actual costs needed to remedy the erroneous appointments and discriminatory practices, will likely exceed $3 million – a cost that will have to be absorbed in large part by Bonneville's ratepayers. As of September 2013, the Department estimated it will cost about $1.7 million through FY 2014 for Department and contractor staff to reconstruct and/or review approximately 1,200 delegated examining and merit promotion cases. Additionally, in August 2013, Bonneville entered into an agreement with OPM to reconstruct 400 of those delegated examining and merit promotion case files at a cost of approximately $925,000. Bonneville will also incur costs of about $180,000 to train its HCM staff for OPM re-certification  Subsequent to the completion of its review, Bonneville will be required to complete a variety of remedial actions to provide relief to individuals impacted by its inappropriate practices….”

Energy News Digest for October 8, 2013 – The Hot Shots Edition

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ENERGY NEWS DIGEST

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

THE NEWS DIGEST TWITTER FEED

Follow the news digest on Twitter for breaking news & notices:

THE HOT SHOTS RUNDOWN

Bonneville Power Administration Disavows Leaked Report Critical of Hiring Audits (Oregonian, Portland)

Weekend Attacks on Arkansas' Electric Grid Leave 10,000 without Power - 'You Should Have Expected U-S' (Forbes Magazine)

Pacific Northwest Fish Program Shows Signs of Success (Electric Co-op Today)

Anglers Tapping Record Run of King Salmon This Season (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

Editorial:  Columbia River Treaty Warrants Revisions That Are Balanced (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

Coal May Bring New Life to Longview Aluminum Plant Site (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

Obama Climate Change Adviser Zichal to Leave Administration (Bloomberg News)

California Law to Change Energy Rates, Aid Renewable Power (SF Chronicle, CA)

U-S Tidal Energy Project (Admiralty Inlet) Could Be Derailed by Lack of Proximity Standard (Renewable Energy World)

New $100 Bill Debuts (CNN Money)

LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.


Note that as some newspapers migrate to a “paywall” system of access, some articles may not be available without forking over some cold hard credit card cash. However, some sites will allow a certain number of story accesses per month before holding out their hand. Sorry if this is an inconvenience.