The Basics
How long have you been at City Light? I started temporarily as a summer hydro maintenance worker at the Boundary Hydroelectric Project in June 2004 and was then hired permanently in September 2007 as a generation electrician constructor apprentice here at the Skagit Project.
Division: Generation Operations
Tell us about your role. What does your job entail? My job as a generation supervisor is quite interesting and diverse. My main role is as a people leader, guiding the electrician constructor, communications electrician and protection and control electrician crews at the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. We complete the work necessary to maintain 12 generators, three powerhouses, three dams, two 240 kV switchyards and the various shops and maintenance infrastructure up here.
My crews are also involved in many projects unique to City Light, given that we have two whole towns to maintain – Newhalem and Diablo. This adds quite a variety of work that isn’t done throughout the rest of the utility (though the next time we work in the wastewater treatment plant, we would accept volunteers!). In addition to the normal electric infrastructure, we maintain a cable TV system, a state-of-the-art internet service for our residents, a telephone system and many other often overlooked pieces that make up the Skagit Project. My group also spends a lot of time doing capital improvement work in the powerhouses, dams, and switchyards, such as generator rebuilds, 240 kV breaker replacements, governor replacements and much more.
Beyond the people leader role for this group, I work with two other generation supervisors to respond to operational issues around the clock and to direct crews when problems occur. The three of us are responsible for making the operational decisions that protect the people, environment, and infrastructure here at the Skagit Project.
Background
Hometown: Ione, Wash.
Alma Mater: Spokane Community College
Discipline/Trade of study: Electrical maintenance and automation
Tell us about your family: My wonderful wife Amy and I have two beautiful daughters, Mackenzie and Gianna. We enjoy a lot of activities together, but the top of the list is our travel together.
Just for Fun
When you were younger, what was your dream job? In second grade, I desperately wanted to be a country music singer!
What do you like most about your role? I love the fact that my role is really diverse and that I get to be involved in so many different projects and interface with many different groups, internally and externally. But the thing I like most about my role is working with my great employees and everyone here at the Skagit Project.
What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend? I wish it was fishing, but mostly right now you could find me working on my property!
What is the one item you can’t live without that needs electricity to operate? My heart? Is this a trick question? Joking aside, I would say internet or cell phones since my wife and daughters don’t live in Newhalem, and I need those to talk to them every day.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I love Alaska. Everything about it just calls to me.