Jared Graybeal and Jason Moss

When you flick the light switch and the lights pop on or open the fridge and grab a beverage that is chilled, you have Jared Graybeal and Jason Moss, in part, to thank for that.

On any given day City of Fort Collins utility electrical line workers like Graybeal and Moss are hard at work to ensure that the power is on with up to 99.9982 percent reliability. As a full-service City, the combined years of experience between partners Moss and Graybeal is only evident when something goes wrong. On those rare occurrences when the lights do go out, only then is it obvious to most how effective the primarily underground system is.

On a recent frigid Fort Collins morning the duo carefully worked to install a new brightly painted transformer box. Following detailed step-by-step instructions, they grounded cables and removed old line before hoisting the old transformer into the air and dropping in the new one.

Even with nearly a decade of electrical work under his belt, Graybeal is still learning new things every time he goes out on a repair or maintenance call.

“(This job) keeps us on our toes. There’s always something new,” Graybeal said. “You can never know everything about electrical and the trade. We keep learning new things and experiences every day.”

Considering the dangers associated with the job, as the crews handle 8,000 volts, Graybeal and Moss always work in tandem. With the assistance of their support at the Utilities office, there are redundancies in place to keep everyone safe.

One of the best pieces of advice Moss received was from a sage who told him not to be scared of the power, but always to respect it.

When arriving on site for a call, part of the fun is ferreting out the problem. Like solving a mystery, the two are trained to carefully track down the origin of the issue and fix it.

“Troubleshooting is my favorite thing,” said Moss. “When there is something wrong, but not knowing and figuring it out.”

At the end of the day, when Graybeal, Moss and their colleagues are able to go home safe and know that the power will be on, it’s a good day.