‘Being a lineman is a very rewarding career’

SPOTLIGHT: Brett Griffin has risen through the ranks in career with Edmond Electric

Since 1993, current Distribution Superintendent has relied on work ethic and a ‘servant’s heart’ to guide him

From City Source Edmond

The definition of a lineman, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “one who sets up or repairs electric power lines.”

One lineman at Edmond Electric has worked himself up the career pole (pun-intended), starting out as an apprentice back in 1993 to the role of distribution superintendent today.

“One day I had a good friend reach out to me and ask if I had ever thought about being a power lineman. That type of work had never really been on my radar,” said Edmond Electric Distribution Superintendent Brett Griffin. “He began telling me about the work and let me know the City of Edmond just started an apprenticeship program where you will learn the job. I found out it was a four-year program that was recognized by the Department of Labor. It took 8,000 hours of on-thejob training and with satisfactory performance over the course of the program, you obtain your journeyman lineman’s license.

“So, I began thinking about that as a career path and finally joined Edmond Electric.”

It didn’t take long for Griffin to come to love the work and the relationships he built with his coworkers. He also began to realize that linemen made a difference in people’s lives, ensuring they have the electricity they rely on every day.

Griffin said the work of a lineman begins with a servant’s heart.

“Linemen lead with the heart of a servant, always working to help someone in need whether it’s in our community, or a community that’s been affected by natural disaster,” he said. “Linemen are always willing to assist to try to restore some normalcy in that community and the lives of the people affected.

“I progressed through the apprenticeship program and soaked up all the knowledge I could from the journeyman that I worked with. By the time I had obtained my journeyman’s license, I was the lead on a truck. Not long after that, I was promoted to lead journeyman lineman. I continued working as a lead journeyman for several years until a crew supervisor retired and I was promoted to fill his shoes.”

More opportunities opened that led Griffin to move up on the linemen pole to the position he holds today. He said any job worth doing is worth doing right. That’s what inspires him to keep working up in his career.

“Once a lineman, always a lineman,” Griffin said. “Being a lineman is a very rewarding career, whether you are providing service to a new home, business, or development, or restoring power after a failure in the system or a storm that’s come through town, it’s something we take pride in, making the situation better than the way we found it.”

Learn more about this and all the things Edmond Electric does at www.edmondElectric.com.

Learn more about what’s happening around the City at www.edmondok.gov/CitySource.