Nathan Smither is a Journeyman Service Lineman and has worked for KEC for six years. 

What made you interested in working for KEC?

Prior to working for KEC, I worked for Avista Utilities and Southern California Edison. I wanted to work for KEC because I’d heard the crews were the best in the area and that’s the truth! KEC is a company that cares about its members and employees. It’s also nice to work for a utility whose membership is happy with their service. You don’t always see that with the big investor-owned utilities. 

What does a day look like for you as a Journeyman Service Lineman?

My typical day consists of meeting with electricians to disconnect a member’s electric service so they can make equipment upgrades, connecting new or temporary services and investigating service concern calls, including outages.  

What is the biggest challenge in your job?

We’re seeing more and more home generators when we’re out responding to outages or downed lines. The concern for us is how some members are using these generators. An improperly connected generator can cause significant harm to the public and create a potentially fatal backfeed risk to lineworkers who are trying to restore service or make system repairs.

Tell us about generator safety. 

Standby generators can come in handy during long-term power outages. Contact a qualified vendor or electrician to help you determine what generator is best suited to your needs. Before using, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Check out the do’s and don’ts for portable generators on the next page. 

If you are installing a generator, it must have a transfer switch installed. The transfer switch prevents energy from leaving your generator and going back onto the electrical utility equipment, which is known as “backfeed” and is dangerous to lineman or others near downed power lines. A qualified electrician should install your generator and transfer switch. You or your electrician can also request that KEC disconnect power so the transfer switch can be installed properly—just contact us at 208.765.1200.

What is the best part of your job?

KEC’s line crews really go above and beyond for the members. I enjoy working with great people and restoring power to our members after a storm. Each outage creates a different challenge, and we make it a competition amongst ourselves.