IBEW and NECA Joint Letter on Importance of COVID-19 Vaccinations

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IBEW and NECA Joint Letter on Importance of COVID-19 Vaccinations

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities all across America. As of today, more than 633,000 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic, with 38.4 million cases overall. This is a staggering loss, greater than the U.S. death totals in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. We are in a war—one of the deadliest wars we have ever seen as an American people.

These numbers are not mere statistics; they represent families and loved ones across our country being torn apart by this deadly disease. We are talking about mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, and grandparents. There is a tool we can use to fight this ongoing pandemic, and win this war: The COVID-19 vaccines.

With the FDA approving the Pfizer-Biotech vaccine, we implore each and every person in the electrical construction industry to become vaccinated against COVID-19. This is about keeping our communities safe. Not only is it our best tool to fight against this pandemic, but because it is the best way to ensure families stay healthy and together: including your family.

Based on statistics from across the country, fully vaccinated people make up as little as 0.1 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations and as little as 0.2 percent of deaths. Currently, more than 170 million Americans—only 52.3 percent of the population—are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 62 percent reporting at least one dose.

We can do better.

There was recently a story of a father in Las Vegas who died from the coronavirus. Shortly before he passed, he sent his fiancée a message: “I should have gotten the damn vaccine.” Unfortunately, there have been too many of these stories in recent weeks.

So please, let’s all work together, not as an industry but as a community. Think of your own family, your friends, your coworkers and their families—and urge them to receive this vaccination as well. This impacts absolutely everyone, and these vaccines are readily available to you.

Please, if you haven’t, go and take the shot. Let’s work together and do all we can to end this pandemic and win this war.

Lonnie R. Stephenson
International President, IBEW

Kenneth Cooper
International Secretary-Treasurer, IBEW

David Long
Chief Executive Officer, NECA

Larry Beltramo
President, NECA

National Lineworker Appreciation Day July 10

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July 8, 2021

Dear EEI Member Company and IBEW Local Union Business Managers:

Our nation’s lineworkers put their lives on the line every day to ensure the delivery of safe and reliable power to keep our economy running and to power our homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals. The work of lineworkers is inherently dangerous, and a culture of safety is ingrained in our industry thanks to decades of work by EEI member electric companies and the IBEW.

When storms or other natural disasters strike, our lineworkers always answer the call to restore power safely and quickly, often traveling long distances and working in hazardous conditions. We have seen their customer commitment firsthand over the past year, as we faced devastating wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and ice storms.

Lineworkers also continued to perform their mission while facing the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very proud of the COVID-19 protocols that were developed at the onset of the pandemic. These protocols enabled lineworkers to respond and to work safely, while also keeping their fellow lineworkers and customers safe.

On July 10, 2021, we will celebrate National Lineworker Appreciation Day. We recognize this day on July 10, as it marks the anniversary of the death of Henry Miller, the first President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Henry Miller was killed in the line of duty, as the head lineman for Potomac Light and Power Company, while trying to restore electricity in the Cleveland Park area of Washington, D.C. This year marks the 125th anniversary of Henry’s passing.

Joining us in support for our nation’s lineworkers are elected lawmakers in Congress. Representatives Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and David McKinley (R-WV) will be introducing resolutions in the House, and Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) will do the same in the Senate. These resolutions recognize July 10, 2021, as Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day.

We hope that you will join us in saluting our lineworkers on July 10, and we ask that you take a moment and communicate with your employees and members your appreciation for the work lineworkers do every day for the communities and customers they so proudly serve.


Lonnie Stephenson, International President International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Tom Kuhn, President Edison Electric Institute

David Long, Chief Executive Officer, National Electrical Contractors Association

Vistra to Shutdown 4 Illinois Plants

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IRVING, Texas — August 21, 2019 — Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) and its subsidiaries today announced the four power plants that will retire in order to meet the requirements of the recently approved revisions to the Multi-Pollutant Standard rule imposed by the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB). Without this rule change, the company’s entire downstate fleet was at risk of near imminent retirement. The company will close the following four coal-fueled power plants in Illinois: Coffeen Power Plant, Duck Creek Power Plant (in Canton), Havana Power Plant, and Hennepin Power Plant.

These plant retirements are required by the revised MPS rule, which regulates emissions at eight power plants operated by Vistra subsidiaries. The revised rule, which also calls for a reduction in annual mass caps for SO2 and NOx, requires that the company permanently shut down 2,000 MW of capacity from the eight MPS group of plants by the end of the year, pending approval by grid operators, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and PJM Interconnection, and approval of the termination of certain tariffs by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In addition, the revised rule requires adjustments of these annual caps as additional power plant units are shut down or transferred. As a result, the retirement of the four plants will further reduce annual allowable SO2 and NOx emissions in the MPS group of plants, driving total allowable emissions down by 57 and 61 percent, respectively, from that allowed under the former MPS rule. While not explicitly required by the MPS, CO2 emissions will also be significantly reduced by approximately 40 percent relative to 2018 levels.

“Even though today’s retirement announcements were inevitable due to the changing regulatory environment and unfavorable economic conditions in the MISO market, they are nonetheless difficult to make,” said Curt Morgan, Vistra’s president and chief executive officer. “By far, the hardest decisions we make in our business are those that significantly impact our people. As always, we will do right by those who are impacted by this announcement. Our employees take pride in the work they do, and we appreciate their decades of service providing reliable and affordable power to Illinois, particularly in years like this one with periods of extreme cold and heat.”

The decision to retire these four plants resulted from a plant-by-plant analysis that evaluated several factors in making retirement decisions, including ensuring compliance with the new emissions caps set forth in the revised MPS rule, plant economics, federal energy regulations, and MISO market rules. In addition, consideration was given to prioritize retirement of higher emitting plants as suggested by the IEPA and IPCB along with the other factors listed above which resulted in a balanced mix of higher and lower emitting plant retirements.

As part of the closure process, the company is filing the required notices with MISO, PJM, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If it is determined that the units are not needed for reliability, Vistra expects to cease operations at all four sites by the end of the year. The company will take the necessary steps to responsibly decommission the facilities in accordance with all federal and state regulations.

Approximately 300 jobs (159 Local 51 members) will be eliminated across the four plant sites. Vistra is providing outplacement services and working with state workforce agencies to assist the employees impacted by the closures.

Future of Plant Sites and Vistra’s Illinois Business
Plant closures can have detrimental impacts to the communities in which they are located, but Vistra aims to mitigate this impact by growing its Illinois business with newer technologies. To that end, the company continues to strongly support legislation that would provide a pathway to reinvest and repurpose its existing coal-fueled power plant sites into solar and battery energy storage facilities. Vistra has a demonstrated history of developing these new technologies in Texas and California and, through the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act of 2019, could do the same in Illinois. This legislation would allow the company to reuse substantial transmission infrastructure and its existing footprint of available land at its coal-fueled power plants to develop renewable energy facilities, mitigating employment and property tax impacts to plant communities and helping Illinois meet its clean energy goals.

Vistra is hopeful that the Illinois General Assembly will take up the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act during its fall Veto Session.