Newspaper Page Text
Page 2— Wednesday, December 27, 2023, The True Citizen
Tree & Stump Removal,
Trimming Expert, land Clearing,
Brush Cutting, Bush Hogging,
Skid Steer Work & Storm Clean Up
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: This is the
final installment in a series of
articles highlighting the line
men who tend to Burke County
power outages.
Eventually, the student be
comes the teacher.
Shane Wyatt, 30, has been
employed with Georgia Power
for about nine years. He began
as an apprentice lineman and
worked his way up the ranks
to crew leader.
“Growing up, I knew that I
enjoyed working outside and
working with people and the
money was enticing,” he said
of his interest in lineman work.
“I had family who previously
worked for the power com
pany, they were not linemen,
they were engineers for Geor
gia Power, and they put a bug
in my ear about it.”
Prior to entering the line
man apprenticeship, Shane
worked for about 18 months
for a contractor who completed
work for Georgia Power. The
experience prepped him for a
lineman position with the larg
est of the four electric utilities
that are owned and operated by
Southern Company. However,
the training at Georgia Power
was more thorough, he said.
Initially, the biggest challenge
was learning to bring the qual
ity of his work up to Georgia
Power standards. However,
the apprenticeship provided
seasoned mentors who assisted
Shane in learning how to bring
forth “A- game” results.
“There were people around
me to teach the me right way
to do things,” Shane remarked.
Georgia Power promoted
Shane to the crew leader posi
tion approximately six months
ago. It’s a position that Shane
aspired to for many years.
“I had great mentors and
now I get to be the mentor that
doors, even when he is not at
work, Shane enjoys spending
time outside hunting and fish
ing. He also enjoys traveling
with his wife Shannon whom
he married last month. They
are expecting their first child,
a son, in April. The anticipa
tion of becoming a dad for the
first time fills Shane with more
anxiety than climbing electric
poles that range from 30-120
feet in the air.
“First baby for me right now
for sure,” he said of his greater
fear and nervousness. “A long
time ago, I might have stated
it was climbing a big pole, but
now for sure, it is having my
first baby.”
At right, Shane Wyatt
was up on a pole Dec.
15 with two other Geor
gia Power linemen.
I had,” he said. “It makes me
feel good.”
However, training apprentice
linemen comes with its own
growing and learning process.
It requires teaching people who
majority of the United States.
The cold wave affected all
U.S. states from Colorado to
the eastern seaboard and as
far south as Miami, Florida.
Tens of millions of people
Shane Wyatt trains apprentices
ages in Burke County.
have varied experiences and
acquired skills.
“My biggest thing is under
standing that everyone is dif
ferent and learns differently,”
he stated. “You can’t expect
everybody to learn the same
way, and you have to step back
and realize that.”
Shane doesn’t spend all of
his time training though. When
widespread outages occur, he is
right back tending to damaged
lines. Fast Christmas, Shane
restored power affected by an
ice storm. From December 21-
26, a crippling winter storm
brought
conditions including bliz
zards, high winds, snowfall
and/or record cold tempera
tures as it raged across the
who will tend to power out-
across 36 states were subject
to wind chill alerts. In Geor
gia, tens of thousands were
without power, with thousands
spending Christmas Eve with
out electricity. Shane worked
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
and the day after Christmas.
“Just knowing my whole
family was in town and doing
things and I had to step out
to go to work was my great
est challenge by far,” he said.
“And it was 10 degrees.”
Although Shane lives in
Harlem, he trains linemen who
tend to the outages in Burke
County. He also restores the
power in Burke County when
inclement weather knocks it
out.
Passionate about the out
BRINSON'S
TREE & STUMP
REMOVAL
706-526-8686
Brian Brinson
When electricity makes a great Christmas gift
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