Find Posts By Topic

Seattle City (spot)Light: Ed Hill

Ed Hill has worked at City Light for 25 years. He began his utility career as an apprentice cable splicer in 1993. Currently, he serves as the Electrical Construction & Maintenance Supervisor in Transmission & Distribution Operations. “My job involves supervising the day-to-day operations of the line crews at the South Service Center (SSC),” Ed explained. “I oversee the line service, streetlight and pole yard crews.”

Ed is from South Seattle but has also lived in Texas and Connecticut. “I live near Seward Park,” Ed shared. “I grew up in this area and watched the hydroplanes and the Blue Angels every summer. It was a benefit of living near the lake. The neighborhood has changed over the past years, but I still relive childhood memories every time I travel down Lake Washington Blvd.”

In this week’s (spot)Light, Ed talks about his hobbies and the value of education.

“My favorite activities are going to Seahawk games—I’ve had season tickets since 1998! I’m also a season ticket holder for Sounders FC and have been since their inaugural season in 2009. My favorite hobbies are cooking. I usually cook more than my wife and I can eat! We enjoy traveling and recently returned from a trip to Italy. I’ve also been known to karaoke a song or two.”

“I completed my undergraduate degree in Business Management in 2013. I actually started right after high school when I joined the Army, but being young and on my own, there were many distractions.  I learned radar electronics in the military and after leaving the service I worked for Motorola in Texas and DEC (now Compaq) in Connecticut. Those jobs taught me a lot about robotics and automation.”

“With that knowledge, I returned to Seattle. I was hired at an electronics manufacturer in Redmond where I set up an automated production line. Hindsight let me see the value of education and foresight gave me the vision of where at-risk youth would be without an education. So, I started mentoring high school kids. After seven years of watching them graduate college, I knew it was my time to get my degree.”

“What I enjoy most about my job and working at City Light is the ability to take advantage of opportunities to challenge myself as much as I want. Knowing the value of education, I’m always striving to learn more and put that knowledge to use.”