While their official titles may be a mouthful, the metermen/substation wiremen and metering and substation maintenance engineer have a clear understanding of their responsibilities at Klickitat PUD.

“We do everything inside the substations, all of the system controls and all of the metering,” said Rick Pimley, senior meterman/substation wireman. To accomplish their tasks, they work with the line crews, the engineers, the software and mapping person, and the purchasing department.

Metering and substation maintenance is a part of the Engineering department, and handles revenue metering from individual accounts to substation metering, monitoring of the BPA metering, and system regulation of power quality, including voltage complaints. They also maintain metering and test equipment, test and calibrate parts such as reclosers and voltage regulators, and program the electronic controls for all KPUD equipment, oftentimes writing their own software programs.

There are three men in the department, and they report to Engineering Manager Jim Smith. Ron Schultz is the Metering and Substation Maintenance Engineer, and is the newest employee, starting at KPUD in March 2002 after 25 years at SDS Lumber in Bingen. Rick Pimley is the Senior Meterman/Substation Wireman, starting in 1994 after working for years at Champion Electric. Rex Hicks, also a former Champion employee, is the Meterman/Substation Wireman who started in 1998.

“Ron brings great experience to the department,” said Rick. “He was a customer first, and has years of industrial experience. Those are skills you can’t train a person in, because they are learned on the job.”

Ron handles customer complaints about voltage problems, which often include dim lights or problems starting pumps, during peak loading. If he can’t figure out the problem, Rick or Rex will go to the site, test the equipment, and then come up with solutions. Ron also does drafting for Engineering, and is organizing maintenance records, which has never been done in the past due to lack of staffing. He also develops maintenance plans, and writes substation operating orders, which are used during outages. In addition, he is the project manager for SCADA expansions, and this year will be busy with changes to EE Clouse as the master control will be moved from KPUD’s warehouse to the EE Clouse substation.

Rick and Rex share metering and substation responsibilities, although each specializes in a different area. Rick has an apprenticeship that Rex does not have, so he handles more of the metering work. Between the two, they get all the equipment ready for the line crews to put up on the poles, and in the substations, they handle all of the equipment, from installation to monthly testing.

Rick said he can’t describe a typical day, as every one is different. When a meter is installed, Rick makes sure the purchasing, maintenance, calibration and testing is done. He maintains inventory and test equipment. In the field, he is only involved in 3-phase installations, such as irrigation or industrial metering, and the line crew handles the single-phase installations. Rick also monitors and inspects all facilities, including substations, checks our power quality complaints, and maintains equipment that is malfunctioning.

Rex takes on the responsibilities of calibrating and getting new meters ready for crew installation, after Rick has completed the database of meters. He also does inspections of substations and equipment. A typical day might be changing a recloser control in the Klickitat substation, and then reprogramming the new control from his laptop. After the recent fire in the Bingen substation, Rex spent several days cleaning up, pulling new wiring, and installing and testing new equipment, working with the BPA employees.

Their jobs sound very technical, but they are also very dangerous. Much of the work they do is “hot work”, changing or working on equipment while power is still on. They are exposed to power levels from 230 kV down to microprocessor power. Safety is a major challenge, and they always have to be aware of what they are working on, as it is easy to focus on the piece of equipment and forget the power running through it.

“It’s very dangerous, and we are often working with unfused power,” said Rick, who was hit with a jolt of electricity while on a ladder during an installation. “The voltage levels are lower than the line crews work with, but that means the energy level is higher if there is a fault.”

In an emergency, Rick said, you have to stop and think, and remember where you are working, so that you don’t hurry the job. Ron joked that when he is in the substation, he is required to keep his hands in his pockets and not lean against anything.

In addition to their regular duties, the metering and substation group will be taking on some big projects over the next few years, as three new substations are built. In 2004, Husum will get a new substation, EE Clouse will be expanded the next year, and Alderdale is projected for 2009. Building new substations only happens rarely, and these will be a joint project between Jim, Ron, Rick and Rex.