POWERGRAMS

Management Systems Department, Cleland said, "My career stayed in that mold. Everything has its genesis in some way, with some product, and GIS was an important one." Cleland was on a team that developed work order processes on computer. He served in Construction Management Systems Estimating to help employees estimate the costs, time and materials inventory needed to complete Distribution engineering jobs, the forerunner to the Job Estimating and Tracking System. "I remember seeing the first personal computer at Alabama Power," said Cleland, who helped originate many computer programs for Power Delivery. "It was big stuff for employees used to mimeographs and maps on velum. The computer changed everything." Cleland was part of Construction Management Systems during the creation of the Distribution Outage Evaluation System (DOES), the first system to take incoming calls and predict which lines were out. DOES was the "granddaddy" of the company's integrated distribution management system of today. PLANNING FOR LIFE AFTER ALABAMA POWER Despite reaching the 50-year mark, Cleland won't be saying his goodbyes immediately. "In my career, I always say that you have three or four good systems in you, with the time you have," Cleland said. "I'm thankful for being healthy. I've got a couple more projects I'd like to finish before I leave." At retirement, he'll continue to help with the Bible Reading Marathons. Six years ago, his wife, Julia, was among the marathon 3 Cleland tends his yard and garden with a 16-horsepower compact tractor. Spending time in his half-acre garden is relaxing for Cleland.

• Cover