April 2024
Story and Photos by Dana Greig
This month, Justin Mignerey celebrates the completion of his first year working for Idaho County Light and Power (ICLP). Since April 1, 2023, he has been a hardworking, friendly face in the roles of staking technician and new service coordinator.
In these roles, Mignerey is the second person new co-op members work with after they have completed new member paperwork with either Rita Holman or Sarah Hagen. Mignerey works with new members to get their information into the system, schedule a site visit, and meet in person at their site to evaluate their needs. After generating a staking sheet, essentially a map for the linemen, and getting a bid to the customer, he then makes sure everything is running smoothly for the customer as they acquire necessary easements and permits.
Mignerey explained that at larger co-ops, one person is assigned to staking while working with the customers is handled by someone else.
“I like the way we do it here,” said Mignerey. “I get to meet people and see new locations all over the area.”
Anyone who has met Justin knows that working with people is a great fit for his talkative personality and outgoing demeanor.
“I like being able to visit with people,” smiled Mignerey.
These traits have also helped Mignerey fit in seamlessly with others at the ICLP office. An atmosphere, he says, that has always been welcoming and comfortable even when he was experiencing the learning curve of a new career.
“I hadn’t been in a computer setting in a long time,” explained Mignerey. “Everyone was very helpful and patient teaching me the computer side of things. Everyone here knows what they’re doing, and they were very easy to approach with questions.”
Other than the numerous classes available, Mignerey explained that the best way to learn his role has been to go out with the linemen and watch them. This has given him on-the-job experience that is hard to teach through a book or course.
“The best experience has been going out with the line crew and actually watching them build,” stated Mignerey. “Or going out with them on storms and seeing how they do their job. There’s not a better way to learn about the power industry aside from just going and seeing it done in person.”
Other great resources during this first year have been Mignerey’s supervisor, Gabe Torres, and co-op manager, Max Beach.
“Gabe and Max are very laid back, approachable and knowledgeable,” said Mignerey. “Anything I need to know, they either have the answer or find it.”
The process for getting a new member set up and power running on their property can take anywhere from three weeks to six months or longer. This is because each element depends on many variables including the member’s ability to file necessary paperwork and submit payment in full, weather – especially storms, and the number of new members already backlogged for builds.
Even so, Mignerey’s mindset is to stay organized and keep the process moving. Normally if a job takes more than a few weeks it’s because something is bottlenecked on the member’s end.
This hasn’t always been the case, though. When he started there was backlog due to the position being open close to ten weeks, during a time of high volumes of people moving to the area. The front office was telling new members it would be two to three weeks before they could expect a call to schedule a site visit. To get caught up he was visiting 12-15 sites per week, which in turn would take him a week to get bids turned out.
And now, that two-three week wait period has turned into one to three days. He says the longer he has been there, he prefers to stay ahead of things. Mignerey’s work motto has become “the sooner we get started the faster it gets done.”
This work ethic is a part of who Mignerey is, but it is also the way he worked in his past in the construction industry where he spent the last sixteen years. Although construction is a different aspect of working with homeowners, Mignerey said the experiences are similar in that you’re working to get something built for a property owner, or homeowner, who has specific expectations in mind. In the end the goal is to build them what they need with the hope they will be satisfied when everything is finished and will come away with the whole experience being pleasant from start to finish.
Another aspect of his role aided by his experience is his ability to envision the space a member will need when they describe their home and any extra buildings the property will need. This allows him to map out the best place to put their power and all the powerlines to work with their vision of the property.
Other than those similarities, these roles have been a complete 180 degree turn from what he was doing before.
“Learning something totally new and interesting has been my favorite part of it so far,” said Mignerey.
Justin has lived in Idaho County most of his life, growing up in Riggins and graduating from Grangeville high school in 2005. He and wife, Mandee, have two sons, Brody, 14, and Blaine, 10. As a family they love all things outdoors including hunting, hiking while shed hunting, and side-by-side rides. They can be found at all their boys’ sporting events and enjoy time with family in Riggins and Kamiah.