Meet Jeff Colon, July Employee of the Month

When the Connect Up Program Team needed someone to oversee the construction of their AMI Network from the ground up, they went a somewhat unconventional route, but one they knew would ensure a successful launch.

The solution resided in Substation Engineering. They tapped Jeff Colon, Principal Engineer (Civil), to oversee the planning and installation of 148 base stations throughout the PUD’s service territory. The PUD’s Connect Up program is a far-reaching project to install advanced meters to all 385,000 of our electric customers and 23,500 water customers. Connect Up has touched nearly every work group at the PUD. As a result, the role required working with countless departments including Line, Warehouse, Contracts and Purchasing, Telecom and Legal, just to name a few.

Jeff’s leadership, flexibility and attention to detail has ensured our AMI Network is off to a fantastic start. It even earned him our Employee of the Month award for July!

“Jeff stepped outside of his normal responsibilities to lead the AMI Network deployment,” said Amy Carstens, the PUD’s Chief Operations Officer. “Jeff has continuously gone above and beyond while working on this project.  He readily took on with a positive attitude and great leadership throughout the process.”

“Jeff has been an integral part of the Connect Up program since day one,” added Tim Epp, the Program Director for Connect Up. “He has done an outstanding job keeping his team informed and on task. He has worked with customers, vendors, consultants, external agencies, as well as numerous internal departments. He does a great job communicating across these diverse groups and making sure that everything is on track.”

Thanks in large part to Jeff, 147 of the 148 base stations have been installed at sites from Lynnwood, to Index, to Camano Island, and everywhere in between. The first base station was installed in Brier in February 2022 and the last one should be finalized in the next few months.

Jeff’s calm demeanor and welcoming personality have shown through to everyone who worked with him on Connect Up – or any other project he gets assigned to at the PUD.

“Jeff is one of the most hard-working, professional, organized and genuinely kind individuals I’ve had the pleasure to work with at the PUD,” said Aziz Haq, an Engineer from the PUD’s Transmission & Standards Engineering group. “When I was pulled into the AMI project, I was excited and relieved to learn it was Jeff who I would be working closely with. This AMI project was new across the board for the PUD, and I’m not sure if anyone else could have pulled it off the way Jeff did.”

For Jeff, the chance to be a little more interactive with the work was a big appeal of the project when he was “asked” to take on this new workload in 2020.

“In the engineering world, we’re not very hands on with equipment,” Jeff said. “So having a chance to be up close and help evaluate how we’re going to assemble, arrange and how we’re going to deploy all of these base stations was a really fun, interesting challenge. At the start, we had the first base station here in the office with antennas and brackets. We had full size mockups trying to figure out how to piece all that together and build the thing.”

The collaborative nature of the program, and getting to work with groups he previously hadn’t, has also been a big source of joy for Jeff.

“It’s been an amazing teamwork experience,” Jeff said. “I got to know people in Telecom and the Warehouse, which I had never really ventured in there before. It’s been fun to work with all of them. And then the Line Department. We met weekly with them as we started deploying, which is not something I would normally get to do.”

“Jeff’s contributions have been invaluable,” said Scott Cashmore, one of the PUD’s Telecommunications Engineers. “His positive attitude and helpfulness have been a huge benefit to the Telecom team. I appreciate his creativity and commitment to excellent work product, especially when challenges arise. Jeff is a true asset to the team.”

Jeff is a Snohomish County native, born in Everett and raised at Tulalip. Prior to joining the PUD, Jeff served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, worked for the Snohomish County Health District and spent 14 years in Railroad Engineering for BNSF, UP and others.

At home, Jeff and his wife enjoy tackling their own large-scale projects, including home remodels and landscaping endeavors. They have a small boat and enjoy exploring the beautiful waterways and lakes the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Jeff is one of four Substation Civil Engineers at the PUD. That group works with Substation Electrical Engineers to design and permit new substations. He works to obtain permits and serve as a project manager for the grading, foundations, ground grid, fences, driveways, conduits and gravel surfacing.

He is excited to get back to his regular work but has had a great experience working on the Connect Up project, calling it his biggest success at the PUD.

“For me, the best part has been getting to know my co-workers in other departments and getting a deeper understanding of the amazing level of talent we have here,” Jeff said. “I’ve also learned a lot about the important roles each department plays in serving our customers. The success of the AMI Network Project exemplifies what’s possible through teamwork and sharing of innovative ideas across multiple departments.

“It took everyone,” Jeff continued. “I’m grateful to the Connect Up Team, Telecom, Line, Water, Warehouse, Scheduling and Dispatch, Standards, Transportation, Tool Room, Facilities, Major Yard, Contracts and Purchasing, Metering, Substation Engineering, IT, Corporate Communications, General Counsel and Government Affairs. Thank you all!”