Penn Power to move 30 jobs to Warren office next August

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Penn Power Co. expects to relocate about 30 jobs from New Castle to its Warren office next year.
"It's just a business decision based on an analysis of our facilities and what is most cost effective," said Ellen Raines, spokeswoman for First Energy Corp., the company that owns Penn Power and Ohio Edison.
Raines explained that the company's lease on its East Washington Street facility expires Sept. 30, 2003, and they decided to move 30 call-center jobs to the Warren facility on West Market Street, which the company owns. The move will take place in August 2003.
Six other New Castle employees will be relocated to another facility in Lawrence County that has not been chosen. Those employees will continue to handle walk-in bill payments and other services. Raines said the work of the other 30 employees could be handled in any location.
They take customer calls for the company's Pennsylvania operations, which include Lawrence, Mercer and parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Crawford counties.
The company has about 150,000 electricity customers in those areas, she said. Penn Power's 75 line workers and meter readers will remain in Lawrence County, she added.
Once the move is made, there will be about 100 employees in the Warren building, Raines said. All New Castle employees whose jobs are being moved will be offered work in Warren, she added.