Power Profile: Jake Stotler, supervisor electric operations, Ameren Missouri

Humbling. That’s how one Ameren Missouri worker summed up efforts to help repair damage and restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Jacob Stotler was one of more than 300 Ameren personnel who traveled to Louisiana in September.

“The way the customers in that area dealt with their power outages for that long of a duration—some upward of 10 days. They were upbeat, they were just appreciative that someone was there to help them,” said Stotler, who was working roughly 70 miles north of New Orleans. “Their positive attitudes and their appreciation humbled me.”

Though Stotler has traveled out-of-state with restoration crews, this was his first time working as a supervisor. The crew worked for a two-week deployment and are voluntary members of the electric power industry's mutual assistance network through the Edison Electric Institute.

When called upon, a company will send either company employees, contractors, or both, along with specialized equipment to help with the restoration efforts of a network company. In essence, it allows a utility hit by a major or catastrophic event to expand its workforce by borrowing field personnel from other companies in unaffected areas.

“It was a great team effort. We had a great group of lineworkers and support staff there. Everyone really pulled together and maintained focus on what was best for the customer in the location we were working,” Stotler said.

The work the crew did was similar to a day at home. They would meet up with a representative from the host utility, who would provide them with an area they would be working in, then they would assess the type of work needed to be done, and the crews would perform the work.

“The challenge for us was really the environmental challenge. It was really hot and humid. We were seeing the heat indexes of 105 to 115. The condition of the terrain was swampy in some areas and then similar to home in other areas,” said Stotler, who is also a registered nurse and worked as a paramedic for more than a decade. “Just trying to keep people fit for duty and working within those temperatures was a challenge from a hydration perspective.”

There was a lot of tree damage and a few broken poles. Stotler estimated they replaced 130-160 poles in their two-week deployment. Some of those in the area they were working had been without power for roughly 10 days. Stotler said the mutual assistance program is “customer-focused,” similar to Ameren Missouri’s Smart Energy Plan, which aims to reduce outages and outage times.

“I think we have already seen some benefit from [Smart Energy Plan] upgrades. Minor storms have come through and we haven’t had the damage and outages we would have experienced several years ago,” Stotler said.