We answer to the people at the end of the line.
Kerri Dauteuil designs interstate highways for energy.
As a Power Line Engineer, she designs and oversees construction of high-voltage transmission lines that carry energy from power plants to local substations, where energy is distributed to homes and businesses.
“It’s a very complex job, with a lot of working parts to it,” she says. It takes a lot of planning, coordination and teamwork.
Her role is critical to providing reliable, affordable energy for more than 1.1 million Kentuckians who get their energy from EKPC and its 16 owner-member cooperatives.
Those co-ops are not-for-profit organizations. And that makes all the difference for Kerri.
“Being not-for-profit, I’m pretty proud of that. Because at the end of the day, we answer to the people at the end of the line, who sometimes have a hard time affording to power their homes. That really motivates me to do my best and keep the costs down.”
Her career also provides Kerri with opportunities to bring innovative renewable energy to Kentucky, like when EKPC built a 60-acre solar farm in 2017.
“When I heard EKPC was building a solar farm, I immediately knew I wanted to build the power line to the farm.” And she did, connecting the solar farm to the power grid.
She helps build new transmission lines to areas that have a growing need for energy, and replaces lines and facilities that are aging and could cause outages.
Her career is challenging and rewarding. “We’re involved in every single step of the process. There’s so much to learn and do. You grow when you’re doing that, and you meet so many people.”
Speaking of people, Kerri really gets energized by her teammates. “We all work so closely together, we start to be like a family. We really care about each other, especially when it comes to safety. We’re always trying to help each other out.”