Tim Lederhos is an IT Administrator. He has worked for KEC for 11 years.

Tell us about your work experience prior to KEC.

I started my working life as a farm hand, fixing fences, driving trucks, bailing hay and planting trees. This is where I learned the value of a hard day’s work. Shortly after, I found my way into the restaurant industry, working as a waiter and busser, and I found immense joy in serving others. The inspiration to help others led to some time working as a youth counselor in a wilderness environment. Here too, I found a wonderful sense of purpose. As life changed, I found myself continuing a childhood curiosity about technology, which turned into a career.

What made you interested in working for KEC? How did you train for work in this field?

Prior to KEC I was a contractor for many years, and it required a lot of travel. It was fine before I had a family, but as my family grew, I wanted to find a career where I could be closer to home. One night, while traveling for work and staying in a hotel, I found the KEC job posting. That is where the journey started with KEC. In addition to studying information technology in college, some of my training has been self-taught or on-the-job. As a kid, I learned a lot by tinkering with computers. I also take continuing education classes as part of my job at KEC.

Tell us about KEC’s IT department.

The Information Technology (IT) department is a team of seven individuals and together we manage KEC’s information systems, including network hardware and software, applications, enterprise management system, cybersecurity, GIS and other data and voice communications. Our work helps to support, protect and maintain all the data and technology employees need to meet our mission to provide exceptional and reliable service to our members.

What does a day look like for you as an IT Administrator?

In my role, I’m responsible for the maintenance of KEC’s supervisory control and data acquisition and automated meter infrastructure systems. These systems automate much of the work we do at KEC and allow us to provide real time electric use data, bill our members, respond to power outages, perform switching to re-route power, improve reliability, reduce wildfire risk and more. These are complex systems and require regular maintenance and monitoring to ensure they operate and are secure.

I also work with KEC staff to develop processes and custom applications to gather data, perform analytics, and provide reporting for many aspects of our daily operations. For example, I designed an app that allows KEC staff to track equipment details in the field. From there, the app shares data with our customer information system, which allows office staff to schedule maintenance and repairs.

What is the biggest challenge in your job?

As our company grows, we have more employees, devices and data to support. The IT department has grown significantly in recent years to keep up with this growth. Enabling employees for remote work during the pandemic was also a huge challenge. We made it happen but continue, like others, to face product shortages and increasing costs.

What is the best part of your job?

Helping others. I find it rewarding to help a coworker with a problem or a challenge. Oftentimes my work helps relieve others’ workloads. It feels good to see them smile and make a part of their jobs easier.