When the lights go out on Whidbey Island later this year, don’t look for your friendly Puget Sound Energy linemen to come and fix the problem.

They’re being laid off.

Instead, the responders will work for Quanta Services, Inc., an independent contractors hired by PSE. In this area, that would most likely be Potelco, a Quanta subsidiary which has helped during power outages in the past. In fact, some of those familiar PSE linemen will likely become Potelco employees.

PSE and the union representing its electrical workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77, reached an agreement in early January that will allow the company to lay off 400 workers by Apri1 1. The agreement was approved by 78 percent of the union vote.

The agreement ends PSE’s long history of servicing its own lines. It’s a trend that has been in the works for some time.

According to Bellevue-based PSE, before the Jan. 2 union agreement about half of the company’s construction and maintenance work was already being performed by outside contractors. The agreement to lay off 400 workers will leave PSE with 800 remaining employees represented by the Electrical Workers, but they will be performing “non-construction functions.”

What that means on Whidbey Island when the lights go out, according to spokesperson Dorothy Bracken, is that PSE employees will provide the “first response.” They will assess the damage and determine what equipment is needed, and then call in the independent contractor.

Will the lights stay out longer as a result? Not according to Bracken. She said response during emergencies will be as fast as in the past. The new contract, she said, will provide the company “a high level of service at lower cost.”

The agreement with the union calls for laid-off employees to transfer to Quanta Services. But not all laid off workers will get Quanta jobs.

“Quanta would need to hire them, of course,” said Bracken.

David Timothy, a spokesman for the electrical workers union, said that after April 1, “All the PSE line crews will be gone.”

The union did negotiate some wage increases for those staying with PSE, Timothy said, but overall “we don’t consider this a success.” A new, three-year contract negotiated at the same time as the layoff agreement provides a 2 percent pay hike effective Jan. 31, followed by another 2 percent on April 1, after which there will be 3 percent increases April 1, 2003 and April 1, 2004.

Timothy said “a lot” of the affected workers are older and will retire. Those over 55 will receive a $25,000 retirement bonus as part of the new agreement. Others may join Quanta, while others will disperse to other jobs across the country.

“The market is really good,” Timothy said. “California is offering big bonuses for journeyman linemen.”

Timothy said it was the best deal the union could cut with PSE. Had they waited any longer, the union may not have gotten any concessions.

“It’s sad,” he said. “We could have waited until April 1 and got nothing.”

Timothy said PSE is a different company than it once was and will continue to change until it barely resembles a utility.

“This is where my bread was buttered. But Puget is getting out of the utility industry,” Timothy said. “They want to be a broker of services — like Enron.”

Last year, PSE moved maintenance and construction work for its natural gas operations to an outside firm, Pilchuck Contractors. About 80 former PSE employees accepted jobs with Pilchuck.