OUC lineworkers make repairs to Lakeland Electric’s powerlines.
OUC, on Monday, April 12, 2021, responded to a mutual aid request from Lakeland Electric, sending two line crews to help repair storm-related damage to the municipal utility’s grid.
Severe storms moving through Central Florida late Saturday and throughout Sunday brought powerful wind gusts that toppled trees onto utility poles and overhead electrical lines. OUC lineworkers assisted Lakeland Electric in several locations, including a horse farm outside the city. They straightened and replaced utility poles and ran hundreds of feet of new service wire during the daylong deployment.
Leading the two crews were Line Supervisors Dewey Harvey and Rick Collier.
Harvey’s team included Richard Boley, Lead Line Tech; Justin Jackson, Line Tech 1; Joseph Schulte, Line Tech II; Zach Rochester, Line Tech II; and Trever Taylor, Line Tech III.
Collier’s team included Paul Retherford, Line Tech I; George Bauknight, Line Tech I;
Holton Stough, Line Tech II; and William Englert, Line Tech II.
