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January/February 2025
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
Northern New Mexico was hit with an early-season winter storm in
November. Davey Tree Surgery Company crews responded for a week
and a half to assist Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) in
clearing trees off utility lines to restore power.
Surgery Company employees, including 12 local PNM account
employees, joined 48 from Texas and 10 from Oklahoma.
"Most of the power outages were in Sante Fe and Albuquerque," said
Josh Maudlin, account manager, Surgery Company. "The weight of
snow on branches meant not every tree failed immediately. It was
more of a progressive failure."
Evan Rivera and Sam Lozano, both PNM account general foremen,
communicated with PNM foresters directly on what work needed to
be completed, while PNM account employees Gabriel Trujillo, foreman,
Carlos Guerrero, general foreman, and Luis Dominguez, general
foreman, ran the crews.
"Everyone knew what the plan was," Rivera said. "It was a
smooth system."
WINTER STORM ANYA
Evan Rivera received a call about an outage. When the crew arrived, while assessing
the property, they noticed the line had caught fire when it came in contact with the
tree. "We knew the line was still on based off that," Rivera said. "The power was
turned off to that line and we were able to begin working."
Eastern Utility services line clearance employees have worked
with client Consumers Energy since as early as 1943, according
a 1990 Bulletin story featuring
the now retired John Fulk, then
account manager, Eastern Utility.
John's son Dave Fulk, area man-
ager, Lakes region, Eastern Utility,
spoke to the long-standing relation-
ship with Consumers Energy.
"We've had a great working
relationship with our valued client
Consumers Energy over the years
and look forward to continuing that
relationship," Fulk said. "They're
huge on safety. They're transparent
with us and it goes both ways,
which is what has made this a
good relationship over the years."
CONSUMERS ENERGY IS A LONG-TIME
EASTERN UTILITY LINE CLEARANCE CLIENT
UAM account manager Amanda Burchett said she began
working on this project in 2017. "It's great to have
Consumers Energy give us the opportunity to do this
diverse work," Burchett said. "This project has offered a lot
of growth within the team. It's great to see team members
motivated by the work they're doing and the people
they're working for. I'm proud of the team I have and the
improvements we're making along the way."
So far, the UAM team buried 10 miles of power lines in 2024
and expects to complete another 30 miles in 2025. Burying
the lines underground protects them from weather-related
damage and keeps the electricity flowing.
Dave Fulk
area manager
Lakes region
Eastern Utility
