Responding to Kathy Ging's comment...

A few years ago EWEB reduced the workforce by about 10%, not 40%.

It used to be that every kilowatt conserved locally and financed by EWEB (ie rate-payers) could be sold in the wholesale market for more money.  Now it's the other way around.  We take a financial hit. So we set annual energy conservation targets we think we can afford and that rate-payers will support. (Going on memory here, but I think  the target is currently 1.2 average megawatts per year) We have met them every year.   It's a different approach. It balances economic realities with local values.