BANGOR – Seventy-one employees at Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. have been asked to take early retirement.

But, some say, as many as 153 of the company’s total payroll of 425 workers may eventually get pink slips.

They should learn their fates this afternoon.

The 71 workers were offered early-retirement packages late Monday, all under the impression that it is advised they take them, according to some of the employees who asked to remain anonymous.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon, the utility’s personnel office e-mailed shift leaders instructing them to tell employees to be back at their home base by 3 p.m. today because “the company was issuing a very important employee communication regarding the corporate restructuring plan.”

“The restructuring information will be disseminated via e-mail messages and fax medium,” the notice stated.

Tense employees have heard rumors that 20 percent of the work force initially would be cut, then another 15 to 20 percent would lose their jobs after that, said David Bofinger, a spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a union representing the utility’s linesmen.

“They have all this information and not us,” he said.

If the rumors prove true, the work force would be reduced by 153 people. But Bangor Hydro’s new parent company, Emera Inc. of Halifax, N.S., would not confirm the numbers Tuesday. Emera purchased Bangor Hydro in October for $205 million.

“Employees are well aware that the restructuring is significant,” said Emera spokeswoman Allison Gillian. “We don’t have a final figure yet. I’m hearing different figures as well.”

She said she could not confirm whether the layoffs would be announced today, adding that the employees likely will be notified this week.

“Employees are very concerned and we’re working as fast as we can to settle that,” she said. “But I’m hesitant to put a date and time out.”

The 71 employees who were offered retirement packages are not being forced to take them, Gillian said, noting that she could not disclose the contents of the retirement packages because each one is tailored to the individual employee.

“We’re hoping they’ll accept them,” she said. “If they don’t accept, then they can absolutely be affected by the restructuring that’s going on around them.”

It’s been about a month since employees were notified that they could be losing their jobs. But none of them who spoke off the record Tuesday said they expected the cuts to be as severe as the numbers they are hearing.

One of the company’s 79 linemen said, “It used to be that if you got a job at the Hydro you thought you were set for life. Everybody needs power.”

It’s the price of electricity, though, that has customers upset. Bangor Hydro customers pay the highest electricity transmission rates in the state, and many of them have been complaining about that to the Maine Public Utilities Commission. And in January, Bangor Hydro was asking the PUC to approve another rate increase totaling $6.4 million. That could have been at least the fifth approved rate increase in five years.

In late January, the PUC said it was considering ordering an independent audit of Bangor Hydro’s management structure and its books because of the high volume of customer complaints. But Bangor Hydro asked for – and got – a three-month delay on an audit vote because it and Emera wanted time to implement their own cost-saving measures they said typically result from a merger.

Then, in late February, Bangor Hydro president Carroll Lee announced the utility would be cutting operating costs by 20 percent instead of seeking the $6.4 million transmission rate increase. Last Thursday, Lee said he would be retiring by the beginning of summer.

Even though cost-cutting measures are being implemented, the utility still could be audited, said PUC spokesman Phil Lindley. A vote on that is expected at the end of April.

On Tuesday, Emera and Bangor Hydro executives were huddled in their downtown Bangor boardroom figuring out the exact number of job cuts. At the utility’s garage on Main Street, angry linemen returning from their shifts congregated in their break room estimating that half of the 79-person team would be gone. Most wanted to speak about the layoffs, but they asked that their names not be printed in the newspaper.

On a bulletin board in a nearby hallway, a two-page list of all the linemen’s names is posted. The list includes their dates of hire and what area in the 5,275 square mile territory Bangor Hydro serves. A line is drawn under number 39. Pointing to the list, a lineman said the crew believes the top 39 workers will be asked to remain with the company and the bottom 40 workers will be handed layoff notices.

“Figure out the math,” said another lineman. “If they cut this crew by half, obviously it will take twice as long to do the job … twice as long to get the power back on.”

“This is what keeps people’s lights on,” one person said. “Without this group right here, you don’t have any power.”

Another twice hollered out, “You got a generator? You’re going to need a generator.”

Even though Bangor Hydro has notified the PUC that it no longer seeks a rate increase, its level of customer service remains an issue that needs to be resolved between Bangor Hydro and the PUC in the coming month. Because Bangor Hydro is a regulated utility, it must agree to perform certain levels of service or face penalties. The PUC, however, does not have a say in Bangor Hydro’s hiring or firing practices, said Lindley.

“Our concern is going to be service quality,” he said. “If they can maintain service quality with 80 less people, that’s up to them. But service quality is going to be the issue.”

Gillian, Emera’s spokeswoman, said a restructured Bangor Hydro should be able to perform service quality standards that are being developed even though its work force is being reduced. Whether the PUC agrees with the new standards, though, remains to be seen.

“Certainly everyone will have a perspective on what’s the best approach here,” she said.