POWERGRAMS

Dawn Peeks, the first woman lineman in Alabama Power's transmission construction, knew she was entering a man's world when she took the job 29 years ago. "I didn't expect the men on the crew to change their ways because of one woman," said Peeks. But it wasn't the other crew members who questioned her role, said Peeks. "We were sagging wire in Tuscaloosa and there were some women nearby picking peas in their garden," remembered Peeks. "They got all over my foreman for making a woman climb a pole." Peeks, now a line inspector at Corporate Headquarters – Power Delivery Field Forces, has been a trailblazer since her first day with the company. She was hired to work on a crew near Bessemer as a Transmission Lines helper in 1991 and rose to apprentice lineman four years later. Although she was accustomed to liing 100-pound boxes of meat in her previous jobs as a manager at Piggly Wiggly and Foodmax, Peeks said working as a helper was "rough." She had to walk for miles in all kinds of weather through rocky and hilly terrain with a heavy pilot rope tied around her waist. Peeks said she was trained on the job by the other crew members. She was even the first helper on her crew who climbed a pole. "My foreman said he would let me climb poles, but he couldn't pay me as an apprentice. I didn't care. I just wanted to learn," she said. It's no surprise that Peeks, who was raised in an Alabama Power family, works at the company. Her dad, Billy Wayne Peeks, is a retired Substation foreman, and her twin brother, Shawn Peeks, is a Transmission Lines foreman in Tuscaloosa. Looking back, Peeks is proud that she was treated no differently because she is a woman. "I know my limitations, but I'm going to try," she said. BREAKING NEW GROUND Alabama Power began hiring women in more traditionally men's roles at the plants and in the divisions in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these women were classified as either utilitymen or helpers, but they took on varying responsibilities, depending on the job. Shelia McElroy, who came on board in 1974, was one of the earliest women utilitymen. In that role, she worked as a laborer in the Eastern Division Garage, washing company cars, pumping gasoline and making deliveries. "When I applied, they told me they had an opening for a laborer, so I took it. I had no idea what that was," she said. McElroy found new challenges almost every day. For instance, she didn't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, a necessity for anyone working in a garage. The other mechanics took her across the street to the fairgrounds where they showed her straight-shi skills and made her practice until she had the hang of it. Aer seven months, McElroy became an engineering aide in the Anniston District, making her the first woman in Eastern Division to work in the field. She worked directly with customers, many of whom questioned why a woman was sent to help them with their electrical issues, she said. A real estate agent for her last 22 years in Eastern Division, McElroy retired in 2010. "We laughed and had a good time," said McElroy, of her days as a utilityman. "The mechanics were very good, helpful, kind and patient because they knew it was really different for a woman to be in that situation." PLANT PIONEER When Ruby Brown was FIRST FEMALES ON FRONT LINES BLAZED POWER TRAIL FOR OTHERS by Carla Davis 10

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