January 2024
Inland Power is my cooperative!
February 2024
LIGH
READING
An Inland Power teamwork success story!
Deteriorating Laminated Pole
Before
A
t Inland Power, we tend to have a keen sense of teamwork to resolve challenges as they arise. One such challenge was recently discovered by one of our dedicated lineman out in the field. While on site in north Spokane County, the lineman noticed several deteriorating laminated wood poles at numerous locations. These particular poles were fairly new on our lines. He quickly notified our Pole Inspection team, who confirmed the findings of the premature pole deterioration. Since this unfortunate discovery occurred in the fall, this meant Inland Power was up against a quick turnaround time to replace these potentially hazardous poles prior to upcoming harsh winter weather and wet spring months, which would cause even greater pole deterioration.
After As a result, our Engineering and Real Estate teams quickly got busy performing design work, contacting landowners, acquiring easements and negotiating new right of ways. A detailed system analysis was also performed to determine what we would need to do to accommodate the scope of the work and the potential incoming winter weather conditions. The next phase of this project required extensive coordination and planning on the part of Inland’s Operations and Warehouse teams. Our General Foreman reached out to contractors and secured a build slot. This task was completed with short notice and contractors were given a very tight window to perform and complete the work. Simultaneously, our Warehouse group quickly located, reallocated and staged materials for the project.
New Pole Once all these components were in place, the Inland Operations Dispatch team reached out to members who were going to be directly affected by the scheduled planned outages. We engaged these members and requested their efforts to reduce usage, which would help avoid a longer outage while pole replacement installations took place. Without hesitation, these Inland Power members stepped up and did their part to reduce their usage and decreased the grid load while project work was in progress. To say this was an “all hands on deck” project is an understatement! We know we have an amazing team and without everyone’s assistance, including help from our valued Inland Power members this project would not be a true success story in teamwork!
Our mision is our members!