Darrell Hogue loves his job because he gets to see firsthand how it helps people. When the lineman is part of a crew that is installing new composite poles or upgrading equipment with automated devices, he takes the time when possible to talk about Ameren Missouri's Smart Energy Plan upgrades with customers.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that you’re helping people, often in times of need to get power on and back to the normal routine of life. I’m most satisfied to see automated equipment installed in areas that have had some reliability issues,” Darrell says. “It’s nice to point to something and show customers what’s being done to upgrade their service. I try to look at the customer as I would my family or friend.
When talking with friends and family, they are often fascinated with my work and ask a lot of questions, so I try to take the time to explain how we work hard every day to deliver the energy they need." When he’s not doing the work himself, or talking with customers about it, Darrell is imparting his knowledge to future linemen, through his work at an Ameren Missouri training facility.
“This is very new for me, training and teaching as opposed to just doing the work,” he adds. “I hope to pass on my knowledge and experience so future lineman can stay safe and have long, successful careers serving our customers while maintaining the highest standard of work.”
With a degree in mechanical engineering, Rachel Cruse spends her days doing some of her favorite things: applying her skillset to tackle challenging, innovative system designs, and helping a lot of people while doing so. Rachel, a customer service engineer at Ameren Missouri’s Dorsett Distribution Operating Center, sees a direct connection between helping people in the communities around her and the Smart Energy Plan projects on which she is working including critical infrastructure supporting several local hospitals.
“One of the things I really like about working for Ameren is being able to come up with system designs to help improve customers’ reliability. Being able to directly contribute to providing better quality service for customers and seeing firsthand how this greatly impacts them is one of the reasons why I love what I do,” Rachel says. “Ameren Missouri's Smart Energy Plan allows us to proactively design our system to help reduce reliability concerns and upgrade the existing distribution system to help serve our customers for years to come.”