PGE Regrets Giving Entire Staff Presidents’ Day Off

PGE technicians braved last weekend’s brutal cold and ice to help hundreds of thousands of Portlanders who lost power. While response teams diligently cleared downed trees and repaired power lines and blown transformers, support staff were hard at work mapping outages and dispatching personnel and resources across the Portland area. ⁣
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However, when the clock struck midnight and Sunday turned to Monday, employees let out a collective sigh and threw their hands up with glee. “We busted ass all weekend,” said senior electricity crew chief Gerald Braniff. “Our whole organization really earned this day off. I can’t wait to grab my kids and a toboggan and head to Mt. Tabor to enjoy some of this snow that has been causing all these hiccups in service.” ⁣
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The decision to give all staff paid time off was made at an executive board meeting last fall and many have been quick to point out that the optics aren’t great. ⁣
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CEO Maria Pope released a brief statement this morning. “We are aware that our customers are currently experiencing the largest power outage in decades and that not a single PGE employee is working today. All I will say is that just as electricity in hundreds of thousands of homes is important, so too is a healthy work life balance.”⁣