We're a little thick. We're a trifle slow. We've made more than our share of mistakes. We missed the boat when we were unable to deliver “out-of-the-box” solutions. We missed the boat when we unsuccessfully challenged industry trend-setters. We missed the boat yet again when we neglected to engage in the politics of our industry. But you can't really blame us because we're “Dougs” — Dumb Old Utility Guys.

When deregulation blew into town, we were labeled as “too old to change and too slow to get it.” Why did we punt when we had the opportunity to contribute to major industry change? In part, because we didn't buy into the notion that electricity was a commodity, that one electron was as good as another. We couldn't accept the dictum that costs would drive everything. Our meager minds rebelled.

Our skepticism was enhanced when we met the “new guard” who seemed more adept with sound bites than Fourier Transforms. Our business was criticized as the ultimate brick and mortar industry replete with stranded generation, transmission and distribution assets. We were told that distributed generation would make our lines and substations obsolete. Power traders told us the future was in “asset light” companies. Retail companies threatened to steal our customers by selling electricity they didn't generate and couldn't deliver.

Well, the year 2003 is drawing to a close and most of our detractors are gone. It looks like quite a few had their wings melt off as they blazed, like Icarus, into the sun. The adrenaline going skyward soon was displaced by fear going downward as business ventures disintegrated around all us.

Timothy Leary, the 1960s pop icon and a known experimenter with psychedelic drugs, coined the phrase, “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out.” Well, Dougs didn't “turn on” and they never “tuned in,” but they are certainly “dropping out” in droves. As baby boomers approach retirement age, many utilities are waking up to the fact that they might lose 40 % of their expertise over the next five years, and expertise doesn't come easy. Knowledge is developed over time and usually with growing pains.

I got my wings in the “underground realm” at a time when utilities were rolling out underground residential subdivisions. I was big into the Insulated Conductors Committee of IEEE. The real heavyweights congregated each spring and fall to write standards, discuss work practices and swap installation horror stories. I remember those legendary knock down, drag out battles between Larry Kelly of Okonite and Dave Silver of Pirelli, both good men with strong opinions. Our industry was better served because we were willing to challenge one another. I also remember looking forward to hearing Henry Chu share Con Edison cable failure stories. With Chu on the podium, reality was better than fiction.

We all have traumatic instances that seem to burn themselves indelibly into our brains. I remember, as if yesterday, the day I presented my findings on cable installation methods at the ICC open forum more than 20 years ago. I found myself running through a verbal gauntlet manned by the cognoscenti. Those of us who passed the test were allowed junior status in an elite group who were the keepers of the knowledge.

I seldom see this level of intensity at utility get-togethers anymore, but I do see our industry snapping back. The California and East Coast blackouts have jarred us into action. Utilities are again investing in T&D. And interestingly, some utilities have decided to embrace their dumb old utility guys.

A couple of old war horses, José Delgado and Harry Terhune, now run the American Transmission Co. And over at Duke, Johnny Priest, the CEO of Duke Energy Services, is an old hand who still puts in time in the field. He swears he is an oyster surrounded by pearls, just trying to make a little money for parent Duke.

Our technical experts are again in demand as utilities focus on upgrading an overtaxed power delivery network. On the distribution side, talent trumps hyperbole. Take Jim Burke, a systems guy weaned over at GE. Burke is a proud Doug (and an IEEE fellow) and an incredibly straight talker. Like many of us, Burke was jostled and bumped around. He moved from GE to PTI to ABB. He is now over with Synergetic Design where he is having fun again. The honesty that often got him in trouble is working for him now.

It is great to see our utility guys in action again, but we need to be realistic. Our generation is drawing to a close. We need new people with a passion and a commitment beside us, to learn from us and to take up the baton. Our industry has a lot to do if we are to overcome a decade of chaos and wrong turns. Give us a chance to share what we know. Maybe, just maybe, we Dougs aren't so dumb after all.