PR 09-18

BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2018

Portland, Ore. – Bonneville Power Administration employees will participate in the Oregon Tradeswomen’s 2018 Career Fair on May 18 and 19 at National Electrical Contractors Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers training center. BPA representatives will share their experiences and demonstrate some of the skills they use to keep hydropower flowing in the Northwest.

The Oregon Tradeswomen’s Career Fair features workshops and exhibits staffed by volunteers who are successful in their careers and are committed to encouraging women and young girls to explore opportunities in non-traditional fields.

“The career fair is an opportunity for BPA to reach out to women and girls who are interested in vocations vital to the utility industry,” said Janet Herrin, BPA’s chief operating officer. “We strive to promote a diverse, inclusive work environment, and this event gives us the chance to reach out to our future workforce and promote BPA and the Department of Energy as employers of choice.”

Cristi Sawtell has represented BPA at the annual career fair for more than a decade. She says finding success in non-traditional careers takes a tremendous amount of courage, strength and initiative. She believes events such as the Oregon Tradeswomen’s Career Fair are critical to encouraging girls and women to think about their futures in a new way.

“Every year I see participants get involved in activities and I see a spark when they realize these are exciting careers that are within their reach,” said Sawtell, who was BPA’s first female lineworker and is currently a transmission field compliance specialist. “This career fair provides a good variety of hands-on activities, the majority of them being led by women.”

The event takes place at the NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center at 16021 NE Airport Way, Portland, Oregon. Sawtell and other BPA tradeswomen will be speaking to students attending with their schools on May 18, and to the public May 19 at the Careers for Women Day. They’ll be discussing various opportunities in the trades and demonstrating skills such as surveying and exothermic welding, a process used by BPA’s high voltage electricians and lineworkers.

Bonneville Power Administration is a sponsor of the Oregon Tradeswomen’s 2018 Career Fair. Learn more about the event at www.tradeswomen.net/fair/ or contact Mary Ann Naylor of Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. at 503-335-8200, extension 26, or 503-819-9201.

About BPA

The Bonneville Power Administration, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale electricity from 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant to 142 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA delivers power via more than 15,000 circuit miles of lines and 260 substations to 511 transmission customers. In all, BPA markets about a third of the electricity consumed in the Northwest and operates three-quarters of the region’s high-voltage transmission grid. BPA also funds one of the largest fish and wildlife programs in the nation, and, with its partners, pursues cost-effective energy savings and operational solutions that help maintain affordable, reliable and clean electric power for the Northwest. www.bpa.gov