Now in a growing and expansion mode, Rae Power Limited is poised to help Sunshine Coast residents with their high voltage requirements.
The company started out as Rae’s Line Works by Allan Rae’s father Jim, six years ago. Jim worked for BC Hydro in Powell River for 30 years, and for the company for about 45 years in total. Allan started in the industry in 2008 with Midway Power, based out of Sechelt, and starting in Powell River. While with Midway, Allan undertook a four-year apprenticeship to become a lineman.
Between Allan and Jim, there is more than 60 years of experience in the line trade.
In addition to working locally and throughout the province, Allan went to help out with disasters around North America, such as Hurricane Sandy in New York, a winter storm in Connecticut, plus a couple of northeasters last year in New York and Rhode Island. Allan says he has also done lots of helicopter jobs in different parts of BC.
“Now that I have taken over for my dad, I have left Midway to run Rae Power Limited with my fiancée, Renae Field, who also worked at Midway in the office, and who is from Powell River originally,” he adds.
In terms of what is offered by Rae Power, it’s all powerline services, so that involves anything high voltage in places such as new subdivisions, new builds, old replacements or equipment that’s at the end of its life.
The equipment the company has includes a bucket truck, so the company performs jobs people can’t reach. That includes tree trimming around power lines.
The company’s crane truck has an auger, so it is sometimes used to put in fence posts. They can put poles in the ground up to 10 feet.
Allan says the company has also purchased rock drilling equipment to install anchors and drill rock.
The operation covers the entire Sunshine Coast, but mainly in the qathet region to start, because that’s where the company is based.
While he will not be doing any contract work for BC Hydro, Allan says he can build power lines for customers that BC Hydro can take over, which is “quite common” with new construction.
In terms of current activity, the company has been changing out poles in Tla’amin Nation, and he has quoted a couple of jobs. One was to do some new installations for a trailer park. Another was to relocate where a person gets their power from, because they want it to come in from a different area, so they will need to install six poles to get it from the other side.
“We offer free, onsite estimates,” explains Allan. “We can talk the job over and if I can’t help them, I’ll put them onto someone who can.”
While the company’s power line work is currently comprised of Allan and Jim, Allan is hoping to hire a couple of people in the future, plus procure more equipment, so he can expand his services. He is hoping, eventually, to have a crew in Powell River and in Sechelt at all times.
Allan says in terms of his business’s operation, safety is a number one concern.
“When it comes to the electrical industry, there is not a whole lot of room for a mistake,” adds Allan. “Safety is key.”
Jim says he started the company because he spent 43 years working for BC Hydro, and after retirement, he was “getting bored,” so he started up the business that became Rae Power Limited.
“It’s all private work that we do, and we work with a number of electricians in town if they need a pole set and stuff like that,” says Jim. “I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve enjoyed the people, because what I missed most when I retired was the camaraderie of the people. It’s worked out really well. I know Allan will do really well.”
Jim says business is increasing steadily.
To contact Rae Power Limited, call 604.414.6560, or go to the company website at raepower.ca, where there is a submission form for people wanting information or for jobs quoted. Contact can also be made by email at [email protected].
