Seven from Liberty Utilities Receive MEA Awards for Helping People in Need

MEA Energy Association (MEA) is honored to present Derrick Shadwick, manager; Nick Choate, supervisor II operations; Jacob Kendall, construction operator III; Jared Vandusen, crew foreman; Blake Atha, local maintenance; Jason Untiedt, pipefitter; and Lary Lehman, pipefitter with Meritorious Service Awards for going above and beyond. All were nominated by Laura Hovis, HRBP III, of Liberty Utilities.

Derrick Shadwick
Shadwick came upon an adult with two children who was attempting to charge their EV at a public Level 2 charging station. The adult admitted they had never charged the vehicle while away from their home. Shadwick assisted the person with their charging app and directed them to some nearby DC fast chargers, so they could more quickly prepare for their cross-state trip. Shadwick went with them to the fast charger and made sure the vehicle was fully charged before leaving them to continue their journey.

Nick Choate
Choate was reconnecting service after a bad storm when he came upon a customer who had been attempting to fix a damaged weather head and the line to the house on his own, but now Choate would need to tag the customer for no service due to the state of the line. Choate called Liberty’s Customer Service Department and asked about assistance programs to help this customer fix the weather head and the line. The Customer Service Representative gave Choate some local assistance agencies contact information that could provide the homeowner some help. Choate didn’t want the family to wait that long to get power restored. He called an electrician and paid for it himself to help this family get their power back on quickly.

Jacob Kendall
While in route to a training office Kendall, came across a woman and her family that had experienced a punctured tire on the morning commute. Kendall directed the car to a safe location where he then proceeded to change the tire. Many individuals drove past the woman without offering assistance, but Kendall put his personal needs to the side and turned his attention to the family in need.

Jared Vandusen

During a locate service, Vandusen had a conversation with a homeowner who volunteered the information that a few days previous his water heater had fallen through the floor of his house. The customer stated he had everything “capped off”. While Vandusen was getting ready to hook up his locator, he smelled gas and noticed the dials spinning on the meter index. Vandusen, recognizing the abnormal operating conditions went to his truck and grabbed his wrench and Combustible Gas Indicator (CGI). Vandusen proceeded to test the entrance of the home and obtained a 2% reading with his CGI. He then asked the homeowners to vacate the home while he proceeded to inspect the structure. Vandusen found a leak and turned off the meter until a qualified person came and repaired the leaking gas line and verified that there were no other gas related issues.

Blake Atha

After a morning of training away from Atha’s coverage area, he was traveling on a black top highway when the vehicle in front of him lost control and rolled over into the ditch. Atha immediately pulled over and assisted the driver crawling out of the driver’s side window and called 911 for help. This black top is not a frequently traveled roadway and without Atha being in the right spot at the right time the driver may have been trapped inside for a long period of time.

Jason Untiedt and Lary Lehman

While on the job, Untiedt and Lehman were following a semi-truck heading South on HWY 65. As the Semi-truck was crossing over the overpass a box truck heading North on HWY 65 sideswiped the semi-truck, causing the boxcar driver to lose control and wreck into the South side guard rail. Lehman was able to pull over and stop safely and Untiedt quickly started to phone 911. Lehman proceeded to the box truck to check on the well-fare of the driver, and seeing the driver had some possible injuries to his face, offered first aid. Lehman remained with the driver while Untiedt helped with traffic control until emergency response arrived.

“The award recipients embody positive values and qualities that make valuable contributions to society,” said John Gann, membership and marketing sr. vice president of MEA. “Their actions are a reflection of their character and the professional development they have received as employees of Liberty Utilities.”

Liberty Utilities is a member of MEA Energy Association since 2018. Liberty Utilities provides electricity, water, and natural gas service to over 1 million customer connections, primarily in North America.

The MEA Meritorious Service Award recognizes those who have performed actions in the service of another that are commendable. Read about all MEA awards at MEAenergy.org/awards.

For questions contact John Gann, johng (at) MEAenergy (dot) org, or (651) 289-9600 x105.

About MEA:

MEA serves the people that deliver electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses. We were founded as a trade association 119 years ago by distribution utilities whose vision was to improve safety and efficiency. Today, we fulfill the same purpose through education, leadership development, and industry connections. Energy delivery companies, contractors, and suppliers around the country benefit from our 55 summits, roundtables, and webinars, 400+ online technical courses, safety assessments, evaluator training, operator qualification compliance tools, and leadership courses for field personnel.