Think of lines companies and images of poles, wires and transformers spring to mind.
But the modern world of electricity supply is one that is embracing technology and, while fundamentally it is about "keeping the lights on", it is also so much more than that.
It is what Network Waitaki chief executive Geoff Douch describes as the second wave of growth in the industry.
The first was providing power for fridges and stoves. Now demand was being driven by decarbonisation policies and a focus on the environment and climate change.
For a business like Network Waitaki, it was about enabling its customers to choose what they did with energy in the future and that was something that spun the wheels of its switched-on CEO.
It is a big year for Network Waitaki which owns and operates a predominantly rural network, supplying the North Otago, Hakataramea and Ahuriri regions.
In 1923 the Waitaki Electrical Board was formed, tasked with "electrifying the region", in August it will celebrate its centennial.
Industry reform saw it become Waitaki Power in 1993 and then Network Waitaki was formed in 1998 following another round of deregulation, where retail and networks were split.
Various events were planned including an exhibition to highlight the evolution of electricity through the region and a celebration for current and former staff.
Many smaller network companies had disappeared but a "really good decision" was made when the Waitaki Power Trust was formed to own the company on behalf of consumers.
"We’ve got a really good relationship with the trust. We’re all very much aligned in what we want to achieve with the business and our local region," Mr Douch said.
A new strategy was developed in 2020 and that was refreshed in 2022 around how to have a sustainable future. Part of that was around building the network to meet future demand and how to fund it.
"It’s about powering a vibrant Waitaki. How do we provide a platform for a vibrant community to exist?" he said.
Decarbonisation was one of the big challenges ahead and investing for it came at a cost. There needed to be a good network to support it and it had to be reliable and safe.
But it was an exciting phase, not only building to meet the demand but also the technology that went with it.
No longer just about poles, wires and transformers, there was now "all this cool technology" so it was also an exciting time for young people to potentially enter the industry, Mr Douch said.
There was a broader customer service expectation as people were so dependent on electricity; the company had to constantly question if it was meeting those expectations and making sure the network was safe and reliable. To do that, a good team of people was required.
Like many others, the industry was desperately short of staff; there was a skills shortage around qualified tradespeople, he said. Network Waitaki had a good trades training programme and had taken on more than a dozen trainees or apprentices during Mr Douch’s tenure.
It also had a graduate programme, for the likes of engineers, offering scholarships to local schools. Three graduates had been through the business recently.
Attracting people into the regions was challenging but, there was a hope that by focusing on local people, they would be encouraged to stay when they returned to work.
It was about lifting the profile of North Otago which had a lot to offer, as he had discovered since moving to the district nearly four years ago.
An engineer by trade, Mr Douch joined the company in April, 2019 . Prior to moving to Oamaru, he was asset management general manager at Pukekohe-based Counties Power. It was a "great job" although he was not missing the hour-long commute to work each day.
It was the challenge of the Network Waitaki role which attracted him to apply. He did his due diligence and discovered it was a "good little company".
And there were good people — "just passionate, dedicated people" — and the advantage of being in a smaller company was the ability to get to know the staff.
Mr Douch was very conscious of the role Network Waitaki played in the community; whether it was to provide a hot cup of coffee or the heavy dependence of the rural sector, virtually everything in the region relied on electricity.
"What we do touches just about everybody, we’ve got to do it well."
The fifth smallest lines company out of 29 in New Zealand, they had challenges but also opportunities including the ability to be "a bit more nimble". It was among the top 10 most reliable networks in New Zealand, he said.
Trust ownership had a variety of benefits. Most of the profit went back into the network while sponsorship was a "nice contribution to the community".
Typically, its community sponsorship programme was about $130,000 a year, which often made a big difference to the 40-45 recipients.
Last year, Network Waitaki secured naming rights for Oamaru’s new indoor sport and event centre project after signing a 10-year $2.5 million deal with the Waitaki Event Centre Trust and Waitaki District Council.
The stadium was a "once in a lifetime opportunity" — and it was great to be able to support it.
Selfishly, as an employer, it was also about helping to make the town more interesting and vibrant to attract people to the district. There was some hefty investment for the company ahead; that included building a new grid exit point into the region.
The first stage would be completed within about five years and the project should be completed within 10 years at a cost north of $50 million.
To help offset some of its costs, Network Waitaki was growing its contracting business; it had two operating divisions — network and contracting.
The size of the contracting business had doubled and it was doing a lot of work outside the region.
That work was as far afield as Top Energy in Kaikohe where Network Waitaki partnered with another North Otago business, Heliventures, to do helicopter stringing of overhead lines.
It was also doing work with Otago’s Aurora Energy, which had a very big works programme. That was a very deliberate strategy, given the geographic location of Aurora, and resulted in Network Waitaki opening a depot in Cromwell.
Contracting was a way to grow the business and make money elsewhere.
"To keep prices reasonable here, we have to make money somewhere else, and it gives our guys a bit of variety. It’s not just being a line mechanic based in Oamaru."
A redevelopment of the company’s existing Chelmer St site was planned over the next three years. While it had been an operations yard for a very long time, the administration buildings were no longer fit for purpose and the company had "just run out of space".
Staff numbers had grown from about 62 when Mr Douch joined to nearly 100; most had gone into the contracting business and more people also meant more vehicles. Physically, it also needed to be a great place for staff to work.
The culture was about maintaining a safe and productive, but also fun, place to work. The social element which had "taken a bit of a hit the last couple of years"due to Covid was being reinstated.
There was a focus on developing leadership skills, training the company’s people and endeavouring to differentiate itself in a tight labour market by providing a great work environment, interesting work and good leadership.
Flexibility helped those particularly with family commitments although, as Mr Douch quipped, he had not quite figured out how to put in power poles remotely, there was some work where flexibility was not so easy.
Network Waitaki has 12 vacancies at the moment, mostly for skilled tradespeople.
Another challenge was how to make a career in infrastructure or electricity look attractive. "People can’t be what they can’t see. How do they know they could be a line mechanic? A trade is a really viable career path," he said.
Diversity was also challenge; the industry was historically male dominated, although there were no barriers to women joining. More diversity in the business would be great — not just gender but also cultural, he said.
Network Waitaki’s workforce did not reflect Oamaru’s population , particularly the strong Pacifika community. Mr Douch was also looking at how to engage with the community differently, including iwi.
Network Waitaki posted revenue for the year ended March 31, 2022 of $29.3 million, up from $29.1 million the previous year, and the company was in a good position for the challenges ahead.
Asked his leadership style, Mr Douch said he tried to be inclusive and also set "a bit of a vision" making sure everyone was aligned and had clarity on how they fitted into that. Those in the business might have different jobs but they all had a role to play in the overall success of the operation.
He enjoyed getting out chatting to staff but that unfortunately did not happen particularly often. His New Year’s resolution was to block out time in his calendar to spend more time in the field.
The board, chaired by local farmer Chris Dennison, had a very good range of skills and experience and there was a very supportive and constructive relationship, he said.
Oamaru was the smallest place Mr Douch and his partner had lived; they had spent a lot of time in larger centres. But they were enjoying it. People were friendly, there was the ease of getting around — "no traffic jams" — and plenty to do.
He travelled regularly for work, including to the likes of Wellington and Christchurch, and returning to Oamaru was always a chance to "relax and decompress a bit".
"The town has been good to us ... we really enjoy it here."
He was occasionally asked how long he intended to be in Oamaru and that was hard to pinpoint. "While there’s still a challenge in the business and still stuff I can do, I’m happy."
