Power utilities and conservationists may appear to be on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to preserving the natural environment, but John Goodfellow is striving to change this perception.

The principal consultant of BioCompliance Consulting in Redmond, Washington, U.S., Goodfellow applies his expertise in vegetation management and T&D operations, maintenance and engineering to help reduce the number of tree-induced power outages while emphasizing the importance of protecting the earth's ecosystems.

“When I started in this business, there was a mind-set of simply attempting to control vegetation,” he said. “We did not consider that vegetation is a biological system, either in terms of being an individual tree or as a plant community, which responds in a predictable manner when disturbed. Today, we are challenging the assumptions made decades ago, as we now recognize the opportunity to manage the response of vegetation to maintenance tasks prescribed to assure a reliable energy delivery system.”

Raised in Camillus, New York, U.S., Goodfellow never imagined his career would include working at three large investor-owned utilities, a construction company and a consulting firm. Rather, he spent his youth “wandering the woods of Upstate New York.” During his senior year of high school, Goodfellow debated whether to pursue forestry and environmental resources management in college.

“When I graduated from high school in the mid-1970s, the economy was bad, and there were few jobs in the natural resources or environmental fields,” he remembered. After questioning if I should pursue this field, my dad told me, ‘If you're good enough at what you do, there will always be a place for you.’ I took his advice and, years later, I'm still trying to live my life that way.”

After graduating first in his class with a BS degree in environmental resources management from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a BS degree in forestry from Syracuse University, Goodfellow accepted a position as a division forester for New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) in Binghamton, New York. He next worked at Wisconsin Public Service as system forester. Five years later, he headed west to Bellevue, Washington-based Puget Sound Power and Light (now Puget Sound Energy), where his duties included building and implementing a new vegetation management program from scratch.

“At Puget I was promoted through a series of management responsibilities, including T&D maintenance management, standards and work practices, and manager of major projects,” he noted. “Eventually, I left Puget and began consulting.”

Potelco, a Quanta Services subsidiary, soon contacted Goodfellow for help develop an outsourcing initiative for Puget Sound Energy. He accepted the challenge and assumed the task of implementing the new agreement and managing a 600-person work force. This project remains the most comprehensive outsourcing of T&D services in North America.

Shortly after his 50^th birthday and a vacation retreat with his wife, Kirsten, Goodfellow resigned his position with Quanta Services to refocus his efforts on consulting. He also has been the lead researcher on numerous R&D projects that focus on the modes and causes of tree-related interruptions.

“I have spent about a dozen years developing a fundamental understanding of how trees cause interruptions,” he explained.

Additional research interests include working with the Electric Power Research Institute to test the critical air-gap spark-over distances between transmission conductors and trees. Another area of interest relates to fire hazards.

“My experience running a virtual T&D utility with Quanta, coupled with these R&D efforts, has given me a unique perspective on tree-initiated faults and what happens next, whether it is operation of the overcurrent protection system or dispatching a line crew to restore and repair,” he said.

The vegetation management specialist also stays true to his roots through his involvement in the Tree, Research, Education and Endowment (TREE) Fund, the Utility Arborist Association, the International Society of Arboriculture and the Society of American Foresters.

“I worked with the National Arbor Day Foundation to develop the TreeLine USA award program,” he said. “This initiative recognizes utilities for excellence in arboriculture and mitigating the impact of T&D lines on trees and the urban forest. Recently, we have revised the TreeLine Standards to include consideration of the energy-conservation benefits of trees.”

Despite his busy schedule, Goodfellow does not have plans to slow down.

“When I went back to consulting, I intended to downshift,” he said. “That has not happened, but I would not have it any other way. I am having a blast. I never would have thought forestry could take me this far, and I'm not done yet!”