POWERGRAMS

33 S ome may say Bill Hardin was born under a lucky star. During his 50-year career at Alabama Power, Hardin has never had a lost-time accident. He's driven more than a million miles with nary a speeding ticket or preventable vehicle accident. These are tremendous accomplishments for a local operations lineman (LOL), whose daily work involves trying conditions, ranging from traffic snafus to dealing with the South's sometimes-tortuous weather. "Combine a half-century of service with this formidable work environment and you've got quite a commendable record," said Corporate Safety and Health Manager Charlie Shaw. "This record demonstrates that Target Zero is achievable by focusing on safe work practices for every job." WORKING TO BE THE BEST Hardin had a yen to be a lineman at 5 years old. There were often problems on the power lines near his family's Walker County home, and Hardin would run out to watch whenever someone made repairs. "I'd watch a guy climb a pole where I lived, and thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," said Hardin, 68. "In those days, you'd have to close the switch, and I'd watch him. I always wondered how he got up that pole." That innate desire to figure out how to do things and solve problems is still a motivator for this Gardendale LOL. "It's enjoyable to figure out what is wrong, to figure out if you can get people's lights on is a challenge," Hardin said. "We don't leave customers in the dark. Our goal is to not leave a customer in the dark if there's any way possible. "We do anything we can to get service back up, using a small pickup and a service bucket," Hardin said. "If your lights are off, we are LOLs and we get the lights back on." Indeed, Hardin has "the knack" for locating problems on the lines, said Gary Hearn, PD Distribution manager – Demopolis Crew Headquarters. "Bill is one of the best troublemen I've ever known," Hearn said. Hardin, who is an expert in sectionalizing power lines, made it a point to know the system, and where he could open and close the lines, allowing customers' power to be restored more quickly, Hearn said. "Bill freely communicates with you about system issues," said Hearn, who worked closely with Hardin for three years. "He does whatever it takes to get people's power back on. He's always looking out for the company and the customer." Power Delivery Distribution Planning Manager Steve Thompson observed that same commitment. "Bill has an amazing memory for how our distribution system feeds into certain areas," said Thompson. "He is one of our best employees for knowing how to switch things around and restore service as quickly as possible. He's at his best when we need to get the lights back on in a storm situation." Hardin enjoys his job serving customers in Blount, Cullman, Jefferson and Walker counties. He travels about 40 miles in different directions within the service area, to the Cullman city line and the Walker County line, and almost into Eastern Division. "We've got the best line crews and LOLs you could ask for," Hardin said. "You can't find a better place to work than Gardendale Crew Headquarters. Almost everybody I work with has 40 years of service." During an outage, Hardin noted, an LOL is usually the first Alabama Power employee a customer sees. They often come outside when Hardin arrives. Whether he's on a service call in Gardendale or working to restore power in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia or Texas, people want to know when their power will be back on. "Especially if they're in the dark or if it's real cold or real hot, they'll come talk to you," he said. "They'll ask, 'Any idea how long this is gonna be?' I've heard it a million times." ANSWERING CALLOUTS DAY AND NIGHT Hardin holds the record for "callouts," which are automated requests for service restoration after work hours. Since 1997, when PD began recording the number of callouts performed, Hardin has handled more than 3,000 callouts, said Birmingham Division Distribution PD Manager Pam Boyd. He previously won an award for performing the highest number of callouts – 257 – in one year. "There is no one better at customer service and reliability than Bill Hardin," Boyd said. "He is an exceptional asset to our 30,000 customers in Gardendale, and we have been blessed to have him as part of the Alabama Power family for 50 years." On Hardin's crew, LOLs serve callout duty every fifth week, from Friday to Friday. "You get the call, accept it, log it into the truck computer," Hardin said. Whether it's 2 in the morning or 6:30 at night – after returning home from a full day's work – Hardin goes on the road again. For example, when he's called out in winter, Hardin heads BY DONNA COPE POWER DELIVERY DISTRIBUTION'S HARDIN HAS SAFE HALF-CENTURY

• Cover