Local people: Chris, Crew Lead, Coaldale office
Mar 7, 2024, 18:27 PMServing more than 240 communities throughout Alberta, there’s a lot of opportunity to get to know our customers. But we also want you to get to know us. That’s why we’re excited to continue our look at those who keep the lights on.
Chris has been with FortisAlberta for 12 years. On a typical day, as crew lead, he oversees new service builds for irrigation, farm, residential and farm connections throughout our southern Alberta service area. Chris is also someone who likes taking on the unknown and says he loves "the chaos of large storms and how all our guys step up to give each other a hand.”
Can you provide an example of the work the crew takes on in their day-to-day?
We typically spend a lot of time building new services for irrigation, farms, residential and business customers.
Can you speak to a unique element of the job that people may not think about right away when considering the work of a FortisAlberta PLT?
People always think of us when the power is out, but they don’t realize how much work we do with the power on. Through live-line work, we set poles and do all kinds of maintenance every day without interruptions to better serve our customers.
What are some more notable ways that your work impacts or benefits the community?
We donate a lot of our time to local non-profit organizations. We and our families are big into doing our part to better and benefit the communities where we work.
Can you talk about a highlight, success, or key memory from your time at FortisAlberta?
I love the chaos of large storms and how all our guys step up to give each other a hand.
Can you tell us about your favourite part of the work?
I like joking with the customers and just being outside on beautiful days. I get to see the most beautiful parts of our service area that the general public does not see on a regular basis.
What would you consider one of the more challenging parts of the job?
The weather. The extreme hot, cold, rain and wind is definitely the hardest part of our job.
How does the work of your crew ensure public safety throughout our service area?
A lot of training and planning is involved in everything we do. We have backup plans for our backup plans.
In your role, what stands out as a project or service improvement you’ve been a part of putting into practice and how do you feel that change has impacted or better connected FortisAlberta to our customers?
We recently added a DA system (distributed automation) to the town of Coaldale. When something goes wrong with the regular power source, it switches the system to an alternate feed and gets as many customers on as it can in a matter of seconds. It can get thousands of people on in seconds. As opposed to 45 minutes and require field workers on-site like it used to.
When you’re not at work, what might your community members find you doing? What might you be known for outside of work that might surprise us?
We are usually found backcountry camping, or at the motocross track in the summer. In the winter you will usually find us at Castle Mountain snowboarding.
