Tri-County Electric
Contributor
Lineworkers serve on the frontlines of our nation’s energy needs, and on Saturday, April 18, 2020, Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC), along with other electric utilities across the country, will honor the brave men and women who work hard to keep the lights on.
Line crews work around the clock, sometimes in difficult and dangerous conditions, to keep power flowing to our local communities. Whether they’re restoring power after a major storm or maintaining critical infrastructure to our electric system, lineworkers are at the heart of the co-op.
When a storm hits, they set aside their personal priorities because Mother Nature doesn’t work around holidays, vacations and birthdays. A service-oriented mentality is one of the many admirable characteristics of an electric lineworker.
TCEC is proud to honor the lineworkers that maintain the 3,000 miles of power lines in the co-op service territory.
At TCEC, employees are a team, a family; with everyone doing their part to power the communities they serve. Three linemen at the co-op, with over 84 years of experience between them, serve at the helm of every line crew as Crew Leaders: Ellis Anderson, Tony Stephenson and Clint Nash.
A crew leader is a qualified journeyman lineman who leads and directs crew personnel in performing responsible construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines of all classes and voltage. It is the crew leader’s responsibility to ensure that their crew is abiding by all safety rules and regulations. Their daily work includes planning their crew’s work schedule, checking for correct materials, directing and teaching the other linemen and linemen trainees on their crew.
Today’s linemen go far beyond climbing to the top of the pole to restore power. They are also information experts who can pinpoint an outage from miles away using tablets and cell phones and communicating with our system control to troubleshoot problems. Some of the tools they use have changed over the years, mostly because of emerging technology, but their dedication to the job has not. Being a lineman is a dangerous job and requires nerves of steel working around high voltage during the worst of conditions, day or night.
TCEC invites all community members to take a moment and thank a lineworker for the important work they do. On Saturday, April 18, you can use #ThankALineworker and #ThankATCECLineworker on social media to show your support for the brave men and women who power our lives.