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Power to the people

The Eugene Water & Electric Board is made up of nearly 500 employees who are skilled in a wide variety of jobs, from engineering to power trading. They also have diverse backgrounds and interests, and contribute to our community in numerous ways. On this page, we introduce you to a few of the people who keep your lights on and the water flowing.

SCOTT COVER
Scott Cover is one of nearly 40 electric line technicians who work through rain and shine to provide EWEB customers with quality power service.

“It’s the kind of work I enjoy doing,” he says. “I like working outside and working with my hands. When you finish a job, you see something you’ve made.”

As an EWEB line technician, Cover builds and maintains underground power systems and responds to trouble calls and outages. Prior to joining EWEB in 2004, he worked 15 years as a lineman for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

His construction skills reach far beyond his job duties at work: Cover and his wife, Kristy, are currently putting the finishing touches on the house they built in the south Eugene hills. They came to the Pacific Northwest from Southern California seeking
a great place to raise their two daughters, 3-year-old Summer and 5-year-old Samantha.

Cover and his family spent much of this summer in their boat, relaxing on many of Oregon’s beautiful lakes, and they are looking forward to a winter filled with just as much fun. Cover is hoping that this year, he might actually reconnect with his snowboarding gear and hit the mountain.

“I said I’d get better at snowboarding after my apprenticeship,” he says. “But that was eight years ago.”

ALLEN DANNEN
The Duck’s dominating 48-10 win over Stanford to kick off the 2006 Oregon football season wasn’t nearly as exciting for EWEB Senior Civil Engineer Allen Dannen as for many others. You see, Dannen is a Cardinal.

Although his civil engineering degree from Stanford isn’t helping Cardinal football this season, it is helping EWEB and the rest of the systems engineering department design and construct many of the utility’s large capital projects. For example, he is currently working on enhancing the emergency detection system at the Leaburg Power Canal that would protect the McKenzie watershed in the event of a major emergency.

A member of the American Society of Engineers and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, Dannen worked for the City of Lebanon prior to being hired at EWEB in September 2003. He says he was attracted by EWEB’s “strong reputation,” and enjoys working on projects that “have a strong history,” such as the Leaburg hydroelectric project.

Dannen was born in Lebanon, and still lives there with his wife of 11 years, Amy, their 6-year-old son, Jack, and 14-month-old twin girls, Sadie and Lauren.

“Even though they are still pretty small, it already seems like my kids are growing up really quickly,” says Dannen. “I’m taking as much time as I can to enjoy things like coaching T-ball, playing with LEGOS, going to the beach and reading bedtime stories.”

IDA SAJOR
Each work day in the life of EWEB short-term power trader Ida Sajor begins at 5:30 in the morning, when she starts buying and selling power with other utilities across the Western United States.

Coming to work that early, however, is made easier by her co-workers, many of whom she already knew when she worked as a power trader at other utilities prior to coming to Eugene in 2004.

“In the power trading industry, everyone knows everyone,” she says.

Sajor, who has a master’s degree in finance, has been in the energy industry since 1983. Before EWEB, she worked at Montana Power and later traveled the country as an energy consultant.

EWEB power traders focus on providing customers with cost-effective energy supplies to remain competitive in the ever-changing market.

“There’s true integrity behind everyone who works here, and that’s very important to me,” says Sajor. “I go home each night with a sense of instant gratification.”