John Powell, Substation Engineer, retired after nearly 25 years of service.
John was responsible for the engineering designs and drawings for substation, generator, and control system projects. He also worked on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system configuration and programming, as well as SCADA system network administration, cybersecurity, and integration with other systems.
Before John came on board in July of 2000, he worked as a technician handling the electrical aspects of production lines at Proctor and Gamble. When the manufacturing landscape began to shift, P&G moved operations away from Greenville. It was then that a friend of John’s recommended working at GUC. The rest is history.
In his career at GUC, John has been an integral part of many projects, but he is most proud of his work on a team that successfully documented all the substation wiring after much of that valuable documentation was lost in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd’s flood waters submerged many of our facilities.
“Everybody plays a part, and I have been a team player,” John said. “I am proud to be a part of a team that built infrastructure that will be around many years to come to serve our customers.”
John said he has several memorable moments in his time at GUC. John’s memories of his career here are laden with optimism, gratitude, and humor.
It was the mutual aid trip to Louisiana after Hurricane Ida that is at the forefront of his mind when looking at the storm damage recovery efforts in which he participated.
When Hurricane Ida hit the shore of Louisiana on August 29, 2021, it was a Category 4 with maximum, sustained winds of 150 mph. John documented the damage after Ida with photos that included facilities where portions of cinder block structure completely disappeared, roofs that were crumpled like used up tin foil, and damage patterns that were uniform and unexplainable. The damage amounted to $18 billion for Louisiana.
John provided logistical support to our crews who were there to help restore the power to a devastated population.
“It was good to be able to go out there and help the people in Houma, Louisiana,” John said as he flipped through photo after photo of powerlines that were grounded by limbs and debris.
John intends to work at a consulting firm after retirement.
We wish you the very best in retirement, John!
