Got power issues? A Hawaiian Electric PTM (primary troubleman) is on the case

by Michael Choe | Mar. 6, 2019

Working at an electric company, I hear the acronym P-T-M regularly. To my understanding, these employees respond to power outages and work to restore them, but that’s the extent of my knowledge.

I wanted to dive deeper into what PTMs actually do and was fortunate to have the privilege of riding along with Hawaiian Electric Primary Troubleman (PTM) Raymond Rosales as he went through his daily routine.

My first surprise was when I was asked to report at 5 a.m. My second surprise was seeing how animated and energetic the team was that early in the morning. You could tell there was a special bond between them. One second, they were cracking jokes with one another and the next, they were scheduling their routes. The close-knit team has the ability to collectively shift gears — and do so quickly.

As I rode with Raymond, I learned that PTMs are never in the same spot for very long. They don’t wait for work to come to them, they mobilize to where work needs to be done. Because of that, communication is essential.

What makes the job even more challenging is that a PTM’s day is always jam-packed with tasks such as switching (when you move the electricity load from one circuit to another without interruption of service), responding to outages, updating records, doing status checks of substations, keeping track of switching, and more. On top of all that, they can never take their attention off their radio.

Although their work is done independently, PTMs work in concert with one another. Each switching must be done in succession. If communication is interrupted and a switching is timed incorrectly, it could result in a serious injury to the PTM and other workers — and potentially cause a power outage. Safety and efficiency are always at the top of everyone’s minds.

There is a lot of pressure on PTMs. I don’t think the job is for everyone. While maintaining many responsibilities, you also must be self-sufficient and self-reliant. Working efficiently and managing yourself are critical skills for a PTM because you’re on your own during the entire work shift. That’s not to say you won’t get any help if you need it, but for the most part you’ll be calling your own shots.

For Raymond, the pressure and challenges are appealing. “When you finish a job, there’s that self-gratification like, ‘Hey, I did all that and restored a big outage by myself,’” Raymond said, and he’s definitely right about each task being an accomplishment. His job is far from easy, and Raymond is well aware during outages that hundreds of customers depend on him to restore their power. There’s only so much I can explain in words but believe me when I say that PTMs need to work safely, efficiently, and as quickly as possible to satisfy our customers’ needs. Check out this short video to learn more:

Michael Choe is a digital communications and social media specialist at Hawaiian Electric.