By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/YachatsNews
Sixty-nine years of institutional history — that’s what Ticker Ekelund brings to his position as a serviceman for the Central Lincoln People’s Utility District.
Ticker joined the Newport-based utility in 1998, following his stepfather who started in 1956 and at least 10 other extended family members. The family’s connections continued two years ago when his daughter took a position as an engineering technician in Reedsport.
Ekelund’s stepfather was the PUD’s southern division manager, so during his childhood in Reedsport their home telephone number was listed as the emergency number for the utility. If his stepdad wasn’t home, whoever answered the phone was responsible for taking a proper message — the caller’s name, phone number, address and problem, and then immediately radioing in that information.
Ekelund and his older brother spent their childhoods racing around Reedsport on their bikes, always careful to be home when the streetlights came on. And they loved to tinker. When Ekelund was nine their neighbor gave them a lawnmower which didn’t work. The two of them dismantled, cleaned and reassembled it, then mowed the lawn that evening.
His grandfather owned a small logging company, and Ekelund began working there at 13. By the time he was in his mid-20s the timber industry was faltering so he joined a tree-trimming company. That gave him the experience necessary to be hired by the Central Lincoln four years later as a journeyman tree trimmer.
Question: What does your usual day look like?
Answer: As we speak I have 29 upcoming work orders on my schedule. The most common problems I investigate are low wires, voltage checks and outages, and I routinely take care of street light maintenance and disconnects/connects requested by customers when they are building or remodeling their homes. I work by myself as a serviceman, which I qualified for after working three years as a journeyman lineman on a four-man crew. I like the independence that comes with managing my own time. The best part of my job is being outdoors, which I love, and seems to be practically part of my DNA.
The PUD extends from the north side of the McCullough Memorial Bridge (just north of Coos Bay) to Lincoln Beach, which is just north of Depoe Bay, and goes just a bit inland, covering areas like Toledo, Siletz and Mapleton. I usually work from South Beach to Washburne State Park.
You would think our biggest fear would be the electricity we work with daily, but it’s not — it’s traffic when we set up for maintenance on the highway. We set up signs and cones and flagmen, but drivers sometimes seem to see none of that. All of us have had close calls and there have been a couple of accidents in the last year.
Q: How is the PUD mobilized when a storm hits the coast?
A: One of the most important positions at the PUD is the operatons assistant, commonly known as the dispatcher. We have five of them.
A storm is not huge in the beginning, so the dispatcher will start by mobilizing one of our two regular four-man crews, then the next. As the storm grows, he/she will call in other dispatchers and they will work together to mobilize all the lineman crew members, the servicemen and the tree trimmers. About 35 people will be mobilized altogether if necessary.
I once worked 36 hours straight. That seems impossible, but when you’re up in a bucket with the wind howling and the rain driving into your ears you can stay awake, believe me. After the initial push to get most of the power back up we all go home to sleep for eight hours, then return for 16-hour days until every issue is taken care of. Sometimes a whole lot of overtime is required; last year I logged 530 hours.
Q: How are power lines maintained?
A: The state Public Utilities Commission inspects 10 percent of our lines each year, and we have a year to respond to their findings. In addition, each time we process a work order we check the poles and equipment involved and submit maintenance requests when needed. This is especially necessary for buildings close to the ocean where corrosion occurs quickly. Also, our customers often report issues.
In the face of an increasing number of wildfires we have installed fire settings on our lines. When those are turned on the line will shut down if it detects a fault, such as if tree branch has fallen on the line. We can turn those on if we are having hot weather or windy conditions during dry seasons.
Q: What kind of training is necessary to become a lineman or serviceman?
A: The usual route is to begin as a utility helper, after having taken an aptitude test. These folks help with things like flagging and locating, and they have a year to pass a placement test for one of our specialties — the meter shop, the transformer shop, the lineman/serviceman shop or the tree trimming shop. A 3½-year apprenticeship follows, and then they become journeymen and can be given increasingly responsible positions with additional years of experience. The apprenticeship includes Saturday school from October through March and a two-week line school in the summer at Camp Rilea in Clatsop County.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not working?
A: My wife, Karen, and I are rockhounds. Our favorite is opals. At least once a year we go to an opal mine in Virgin Valley, Nevada, and we’ve come home with many opals which we display in domes in our home. We also like to spend time at our small cabin in Christmas Valley, which is quite a different environment than coastal Oregon.
Q: Tell us a secret.
A: I am really happy to tell you that my daughter, Brianna, will be having a baby in August — my first grandchild!
Central Lincoln PUD
- Customer service: 877-265-3211; Website: clpud.org and on Facebook: Central Lincoln PUD
- Kathleen O’Connor is a Waldport freelance writer who can be reached via email at kmoc8916@gmail.com
Comment Policy