The ice storms in late 2006 and early 2007 were an eye opener for me. Not just because I’d never been directly involved in service restoration of this magnitude but because I saw a side of our employees that existed but had been hidden. It is called RESOLVE.
While I have worked in the electric industry for over 30 years, I do not know how linemen find problems in the cold and dark much less when visibility is zero, winds are high, and wind chill is -5 degrees or worse. Each time I hear a lineman on the radio telling our operations secretary that a circuit should be back on; I imagine the relief felt by our customers. As a Dawson Power customer myself, I know the feeling. Being without electricity, even for a few minutes seems almost intolerable.
Still, things happen that are not in anyone’s control. Take a look at these pictures (thank you Norris PPD) and see what linemen in the Beatrice area had to face over Christmas. Dawson Power linemen have faced the same thing. They can’t restore power if they can’t see the lines or get to them. Linemen sometime protest when they are told to stop working (because conditions have made it unsafe) but they also know that they are working with something that could kill them if they make one small mistake.
In an era when electronic communication is at an all time high, we think it’s pretty special when we receive a card in the mail that says “Thanks for getting my power back on!” A little appreciation goes a long way….and kicks RESOLVE into higher gear for next time.
These are examples of the extreme conditions linemen must work in. God bless these men (and women) who keep the lights on (or get them back on) for all of us!
Gwen Kautz
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