Chapter Two of Seven

                                                                   Being There

An Autobiographical Account of My Life and Times at Glasgow EPB

William J. Ray

CHAPTER TWO

Only a few months after walking into Glasgow EPB for the first time, my daughter, Lauren was born, and for the next 18 years, my family enjoyed the rare pleasure of raising kids and attending hundreds of events at Glasgow Independent Schools with them. I would not trade those years for anything, and the success of Bradley and Lauren is testament to the fine school systems we have in Glasgow. At work, I arrived to find a small team of 22 folks, working hard to grow Glasgow’s power grid, using practically no technology, even though Glasgow’s commercial and industrial customers were growing like topsy. It was a much smaller operation than what I was accustomed to in Bowling Green, but it was friendly and peaceful -- qualities that kept me in Glasgow for many ensuing decades.

The excitement of those hydro projects quickly turned into something far more daunting than I anticipated. TVA didn’t really want Glasgow to build those projects and make its own power. Army Corps of Engineers had a very dim view of Glasgow monkeying around with its lakes and dams. For a young fellow, totally inexperienced with taking on two giant federal entities, it was clear that a friend would be needed -- one with more experience with moving mountains, and willing to tutor and support said young fellow. I found that person in the EPB’s experienced counsel – Jeff Herbert. Jeff became my friend, advisor, instructor, and partner in more than one big idea that became a reality for Glasgow. But it all started with those hydro power licenses that those five board members, those giants of Glasgow’s glory days, pursued and captured. 

Even though the hydro power projects never became a reality (the opposition from TVA and ACOE was just more than we could overcome), those licenses became an essential element of the last 40 years at Glasgow EPB – here is what I mean. If Glasgow EPB was going to find a way to economically build and operate hydroelectric facilities at distant dams, it became clear that finding a way to operate them remotely, would be required. How would EPB receive complex telemetry, video, and other data necessary to satisfy the ACOE, at distant sites? It turned out there was a way, one that might also provide a lot of other functionality for EPB and for the people of Glasgow…a broadband network. Although the hydro projects failed to materialize, that broadband system became something I wanted to learn more about, and that did come to pass. 

A recurring theme throughout this recounting is that we were able to attract phenomenally talented people to join the EPB team. Those people came, nearly exclusively, from our local area, and nearly all of them graduated from Glasgow or Barren County schools. This area has always had a robust vein of talent within it, and that same early Board I mentioned, did something that allowed us to find, recruit, and retain that talent. They considered, deliberated, and ultimately approved a pay plan that is the foundation for EPB’s success over the last several decades. With the rich resource of talent, a Board made up of thoughtful and supportive business folks, and a deep vein of ethics that believed that when these team members earned our respect, we are required to give them that respect, we developed a team of super-heroes.

Approving that pay plan was no small feat, and it likely could not happen in today’s polarized political environment. But in 1985, Don Doty, a certified expert on human resource management, proposed a merit-based pay plan to me, and he and Dan Moody spent countless hours explaining the concept to me. With Don’s backing, I proposed the plan to the Board (remember, that Board included Robert Lessenberry and William Bryant, and they were extreme fiscal conservatives). Instead of going to war with each other, they came together, listened to Don Doty and respected his expertise. They did not cling to their preconceived notions. Instead, they listened to each other and deliberated while fully respecting differing viewpoints. Eventually the plan was approved, unanimously, and it has been reviewed and re-approved for 35 consecutive years, by many different configurations of the Board, since its initial approval. While seldom mentioned, this event is one of the most important in the last 40 years of EPB progress.