The following occurred at my specific job location: Management, at first okay, turned horrendous. Pretty sure a lot of this was promulgated from the board at corporate level, due to requirements needed to prepare the company for sale to a leveraged buy out group.
I am sure their bosses bosses started turning the screws to save money by cutting all expenses. So we had the deferment of maintenance, stingy raises, cutting of staff, the usual, the last few years I was employed by the company.
With that in mind, the management team at my plant was transformed from once semi-decent people into what I would describe as 'self-deluded blowhards, convinced of their own inherent majesty.' One of my bosses, once a decent fellow, had somehow been transmuted almost to a near-sociopath!
There were hardly ever any corporate or higher up types on site to have a clue as to what was going on down in the trenches. They didn't care as long as costs were cut. The plant was isolated and out in the boonies. So it kind of went all 'Lord of the Flies' out there! See who goes insane first, who survives to fight another day! Gotta say most of those guys were pretty tough and not too thin skinned!
Mind you, the above negative remarks were not formed based so much on my own treatment, as much as they are based on my observations of how others were treated in my presence!
That said, the poor operators, and even ice techs were sometimes treated like ignorant, stupid savages. This is not hyperbole. I am serious. These were good competent employees too I must say. (I was often taken aback by the way other various employees also were belittled or mistreated, one on one, as well as in large group meetings.)
This was out of nothing more then for personal reasons mostly, nothing to do with actual job competency or performance. All while others who actually were in the 'low performance' ranks were consistently given passes. This displays a serious lack of good judgement, as well as biased thinking on the part of management.
Because of all the cost cuts, the plants are falling apart due to lack of maintenance. I did work at many of their locations. I saw it. I assume because of the impending dealings with the LBO sale, the need was to save money and prop up profits.
After all, a leveraged buy out is a financial transaction in which a company is purchased with a combination of equity and debt, such that the company's cash flow is the collateral used to secure and repay the borrowed money, hence the extreme need to save money; to make it appear the cash flow is more then it really is. That's how they hook a buyer in. Smoke (sometimes literally! And mirrors. So to me, Calpine's present status is very precarious.
Needless to say, working under these conditions, with un-repaired steam leaks everywhere, unnecessarily high noise levels, and malfunctioning equipment throughout the plants, poor moral was the order of each day. More then a few serious explosions or mishaps occurred at my plant. Was just out of sheer luck no one was killed or seriously mangled.
The merchant plant scheme is a losing proposition, full of debt-inducing conditions, uncertainty, constantly shifting needs, expenses, and fuel pricing issues, not to mention huge economic and political/regulatory pressures. Its a sinking ship, especially for rank and file employees. Or even for the higher-ups and owners! (I'd sell it off too, if it were me!)
So, to summarize, I believe that's why the company recently sold off to the LBO guys. And that's why I also believe that soon management will be selling off profitable parts of the company piecemeal, to pay off the debt. (And to pocket large bonuses for themselves, while they still can.)
I am almost certain whatever cashflow they manage to actually generate is not going to cover all the debt. The bad news is: Most of these plants are, or will soon be coming up on costly maintenance that had been put off to save money.
I know. I was there to witness the curtailing of 5 year recommended maintenance, management just doing the bare minimum needed to run. (What should of been a 10 week outage is now only a 7 week outage, etc.) I personally saw the putting off of expensive steam turbine and generator maintenance, etc., just to mention some the more costly work that was tabled to save money.
Don't take my word for it. I am nobody. If you have half a brain, just do what I did and check it out for yourself. Here's a fact that is easily verified:: Around or after the time of sale, Moodys rated Calpine negative because of much of what I just told you.
So, before you 'sign up', please consider: If good parts of Calpine are sold off, the Geysers, other legacy or flagship plants, the company becomes less diverse and stable. And less relevant in a highly competitive industry.
The new owners / LBO guys are just as likely in it for short term gain. (Plunder is a way of life for LBO groups, more then not.) They will suck out what they can for themselves, discard the rest. (That will probably be you.)