Georgia Power lineman explains work into getting power back on after an outage

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Jonathan Dean understands the power of having power and that’s why for over 10 years, he’s helped turn the lights on in Georgia communities.

Now, Dean works as a technical training instructor at Georgia Power, teaching others how to be linemen.

On Thursday, Dean told Atlanta News First what the job and the training beforehand looks like.

“We’re teaching them how to climb. We’re teaching the material and how to identify the work they’re going to do every day when they go into the field,” he said.

It is called line work and consists of what you see when you look up at the overhead power lines or the underground boxes in your neighborhood, according to Dean.

Dean said each job that is done is aimed at bringing the customer their power back. That might be power lost due to a fallen tree on a windy day or because of a significant weather event.

Most recently, Dean and thousands of others responded to the hardest hit areas of Georgia after Hurricane Helene, which affected 12,000 utility poles in the state.

“This was the most destructive storm we’ve had,” Dean said. “A lot of our employees that are also in those areas are affected as well, so it hits home for us, too.”

The former lineman reminds people that their job is not an easy one.

“You can’t just jump right into it,” he said. “You have to think about the safety of the community, the safety of the workers and the most efficient and safest way to restore power.”

After a power outage, many communities often wonder about the timeline of restored power. In response, Dean told Atlanta News First he understands the concerns and knows that it takes the power of a team of linemen to make it happen.

“There’s nothing that we do that does not take power nowadays, so when people lose that, their whole world is turned upside down and we understand that,” he said.

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