Done almost all, time to go

When Joe Noland took a job as lineman for the Cheney Light Department in 1985, his plan was to work just long enough to see what it was like to collect 12 months worth of paychecks.

Now, Noland is retiring from the city of Cheney after serving 30 years in just about every Light Department position, including the last seven as the department's director.

"I tell people I stayed too long because when you stay too long, they make you the boss," Noland said.

Born in Sandpoint but spending his K-12 years in Rosalia, Noland began his career in 1979 as an apprentice lineman. He worked on a variety of transmission and construction projects in Washington, Oregon and Idaho that included the installation of Seattle's trolley bus line system, a 500-kilovolt (KV) double circuit steel tower over the Columbia River Gorge and a 500 KV substation project at Grand Coulee Dam.

But after six years of being on the road, and not having a steady paycheck through the winter months, Noland decided to look for something more permanent. With family in Rosalia, he was familiar with Cheney and applied for a lineman's position with the city.

Noland was hired, and because he was on the low end of the seniority pole, began his career with Cheney reading customer electrical meters. Over the years he advanced up the pole, becoming a power lineman, crew foreman and general foreman before being named temporary department director in 2007.

In 2008, that position became permanent. As director, Noland has been responsible for a lot of things regarding supplying Cheney's power, bringing in field experience to issues such as purchasing, budgeting and power conservation.

"Joe brought a great combination of hands on experience as a journeyman lineman and a thorough knowledge of the power industry to his position as Light Department Director," City Administrator Mark Schuller said in an email. "Joe's commitment, dedication to running an efficient and cost effective operation was second to none."

In his 36 years in the power field, Noland has seen many changes. For starters, the equipment has become more specialized and better. Take for instance, computers.

"There was a main frame up at City Hall but nobody had a PC at their desk," Noland said.

Another area was meter reading, which was done by taking a book with all of the customer information in it, going house to house reading meters, logging it in the book and returning that book to City Hall where the information was transcribed for billing.

Today, one of the things Noland is most proud of having accomplished during his tenure is the near completion of an electronic meter reading system that can read meters every five minutes and read all the meters in the city at once to provide better indicators of load losses in the system.

"It will give us tools that will make us more efficient," he said.

Another change is in the area of renewable energy resources. Noland said when he began, the only renewable resource was called hydroelectric power.

Today, utilities and customers are adding renewable resources such as wind and solar onto the electrical grid, and it will be one of the industry's challenges regarding how this power is added while still maintaining electrical system stability.

Keeping that power affordable is another challenge, Noland said, particularly for Cheney's needs since the city's contracts with Bonneville Power Administration expire in 2028. It's an area, power acquisition, where Mayor Tom Trulove believes Cheney has benefited greatly from Noland's experience.

"Joe has been a game changer in planning ahead for the electric power system," Trulove wrote in an email. "Always thinking ahead in order to plan and accommodate future needs while maintaining current budget control, he has operated his department with such efficiency that Cheney's electric rates are about 28 percent lower than our closest competitor."

Trulove said Noland's abilities have made Cheney an electrical leader regionally. Noland was elected to the Public Power Council executive committee, was a member of the Board of Northwest Requirements Utilities, a group representing non-generating BPA customers, and was a founding member of the Northwest Energy Management Systems, an organization created to secure non-BPA power when needed by utilities such as Cheney.

"This will do much to help preserve our influence and low rates into the future and be an important part of Joe's legacy," Trulove said.

When it comes to other accomplishments, Noland said he is proud of the department's work in rebuilding both of the city's substations along with feeder lines and the remodel of the Utility Building. But he is most proud of the people he works with, a group he said are dedicated to providing good service at a great price and take to heart Noland's philosophy about the importance of listening to the customer.

It's a philosophy born from firsthand knowledge.

"There's a lot to know about power, and when it gets to the point you think you know it all, it's probably time to pack your bags," Noland said. "I still don't know everything, but I'm packing my bags anyway."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].