General Electric cuts 12,000 jobs, blames lagging coal demand

Washington Examiner ^ | Dec 7, 2017 | John Siciliano

[minnesota_bound]

The CEO and the board members will get a big Christmas bonus so there is that good news.....

[oincobx]

>>>So when do the electric rates go down?

If you live in an unregulated market, they already have.

“The average wholesale power price was less than $25 per megawatt hour last year on the grid that coordinates electricity distribution across most of Texas, according to the operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. A decade ago, it was $55.”

Electricity Prices Plummet as Gas, Wind Gain Traction and Demand Stalls
https://www.wsj.com/articles/electricity-prices-plummet-as-gas-wind-gain-traction-and-demand-stalls-1512043200

[niteowl77]

GETS (GE tranportation systems) is the last domestic manufacturer of diesel electric locomotives in the US, and that’s using the term loosely.

At least 3/4 of the parts for their latest locomotives are sourced from china.

The reliability of their latest product is horrible.

I still keep in touch with mechanical department old friends, and none of them really like GE locomotives, but they don't get to pick-and-choose what power they work with. A good friend of mine who was an MIC said that they were bulky but tinny... disposable tools that were pains in the butt to do heavy maintenance on. The crews would rave about them when they were brand new, though, and EMD (then still part of GM) could not take on GE and win in the credit battle. Back in the '90's an assistant VP-Mechanical told me flat out that the reason they were buying GE locomotives were GE Capital, GE Capital and GE Capital.

[LibertyOh]

When GE acquired Alstom a couple of years ago the deal required holding off on job cuts in that European based business for a couple of years. Looks like times up.

[ManOfLaMuncha]

GE’s 115 year-old X-Ray Division bolted from Wisconsin to China (Ostensibly “To tap growth in China”) in 2011, following an elimination of almost all collective bargaining for most public workers in Wisconsin. I just feel sorry for the employees whipsawed by Immelt’s politics.