Let's meet the electricians!

On the occasion of the Electrician's Trophy competition, whose national phase will take place this year in July in Timisoara, organized this year by E-Distribuție, we talked to our electrician colleagues who won first place in the internal phase. They are from Muntenia, Banat or Dobrogea, they have gathered decades of experience in which they have learned to be the best, and in their words values such as "responsibility" and "seriousness" constantly come back.

One working day is not like another

Valentin Monea, electrician at E-Distribuție Dobrogea, High Voltage Tulcea Operational Unit, won first place in the category of power station operation.

"It's not great to be an electrician, but as long as you do your job, it's good", he says modestly. When you ask him how he got into his job, his voice sounds like he's telling you a story from long ago. "I didn't have many options, I went to high school in my locality in Tulcea county, it was an agricultural high school, but I spent two years in the electrical engineering department, I got there and, what can I say, I liked it and I still like it". Sometimes different situations arise, there can be breakdowns, the weather can give them trouble, "but one thing after another, it's fine". As for the constant danger they are exposed to, he says: "First of all, we have to take care of ourselves and the person next to us, that's for sure. We always work carefully, we follow the rules, we use the equipment we have and there have been no problems, I hope there won't be any".

One working day is not like another when you're working on the high-voltage operating side. Unless breakdowns occur overnight, they, the electricians, see what work they have that day, what maneuvers are scheduled, and get out in the field. They always have something to do and there are fewer and fewer specialists. "For young electricians, it's also a tough job - we've all been through a not-so-short and quite intense training period. You can't stay in the plant until you have training. We stayed for about a year, at least 7-8 months anyway." However, he was able to pass on his passion for the electrical field to his son. "When I tried to lure him into that side, he didn't want to hear it, but then he went into electrical engineering and I was surprised."

Valentin Monea lives in Topolog, 56 km from Tulcea. "Usually, when I'm not working, my time is taken up by the household. It's a beautiful forest area. And in the countryside, you also have a garden, a bird..." He admits that in his youth, after high school, he worked for a while in Constanța, but he couldn't get used to the city, to living in an apartment. But he would like to be able to travel more.

At the Electrician's Trophy, he has also participated in the past and won several awards. "Even at the national phase, I will be for the seventh or eighth time. At the company stage, I have already won first place in Deva, otherwise second, or third place. There were other electricians more veteran than me, better, but they either retired or were promoted and no longer allowed the function to participate, so I remained among the senior ones in the competition. And in 2019, in the national finals, I also got third place." We talked for these lines while he was on vacation, tending to his garden at Topolov and preparing for the theoretical part of the competition.

The electricity does not forgive! 

Iulian Niculae is the first-place holder in the PRAM electrician category at this year's internal phase. He is 54 years old and works for E-Distribuție Banat, at the Timișoara branch. His experience in the company is no less than 35 years. 

"The job chose me", he says, recalling how, after graduating from the Energetic High School in Timișoara, tried to be admitted to the Faculty of Medicine. It was in 1987, the competition was fierce and he hadn't prepared enough. He was not admitted to the university, but he was assigned as an electrician.

About PRAM - Protection by Relay, Automation, and Measurement - he says it doesn't involve such high risks, but care is vital: "It's better to measure three times than to get it wrong once. Electric current does not forgive".

For him, the working days are not similar either. These days, he's not only excited but also concerned about the country finals of the Electrician's Trophy. "The pressure is on now, at the national stage, because we are the organizers." The national stage of the competition will take place in Timisoara from 10 to 14 July, organized this year by E-Distribuție. And Iulian Niculae prepares in his spare time, in the evenings, after hours, until late at night, for the theory part.

He has been taking part in the Electrician's Trophy for many years. This competition is one of the satisfactions that his job has brought him so far. He has won first place in the last two competitions. The event is also enjoyable because, over time, a relationship has developed with the other two members of the team, with whom he enjoys working each time, but also because it's a chance to socialize and catch up with colleagues from other distribution companies.

He believes that his profession requires passion, tidiness, and care, as there is no shortage of dangers. He has young colleagues, but not many. Two engineers accompany them in the field, and whom he hopes will remain. For the rest, he sees the job as a constant challenge: new systems are always emerging, and you're always learning. As I said, Iulian Niculae believes that this job requires passion.

In his spare time, he retreats to his home near Timisoara, where gardening and hiking relax him. He loves to travel. But these days his free time is mostly spent preparing for the Electrician's Trophy.

Young people are no longer willing to become electricians

Dumitru Neagu is 59 years old and is a specialist electrician at E-Distribuție Dobrogea. In the internal competition, he came first in the defectoscopy category, underground power lines MT-JT.

"When I took the exam at high school in Fetești, I chose the electrician profile", he says today. He was born in Miloșești, in Ialomița, and the field of electricity has attracted him since childhood. Today he lives in Slobozia and has 40 years of professional experience.

"For E-Distribuție, I've been working on the defectoscopy side since 2014. We serve two counties - Ialomița and Călărași, quite a large area, and we work day after day." With the risks, he has always made peace. "Knowing the field well, you know how to protect yourself, I had no fear. I'm aware that dangers exist and I always take the necessary safety measures."

He believes that to be a good electrician, you especially need knowledge. "In the electrical field in general and in the segment you work on in particular. Knowledge always needs to be deepened and updated, new aspects come up, and anyway, the notions get forgotten, confused if they are not reworked." And he also likes the Electrician's Trophy because it helps him to constantly refresh his knowledge of defectoscopy.

He is happy with what he does but wishes he had more young electrician colleagues. "Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, we're approaching retirement age and we don't have anyone to leave what we know, what we've learned over the years. Young people are no longer attracted to the profession for various reasons, they have other concerns, other jobs, and there are no longer the vocational schools, the high schools that were in my time. It's a problem that could be seriously felt in a few years."

When he's not working, he returns to Miloșești, tends to the garden and time passes. These days, like his colleagues, he's preparing for the Electrician's Trophy, almost missing the number of entries. "I think it's the eighth, ninth time I've participated. I've had some results, the best was second place in the national phase at the individual, and with the team, I took first place twice in the national phase. All that's missing from my records is first place in the individual category at the country stage of the contest", he laughs.

You need to be serious!

Daniel Scrioșteanu (47) works as an electrician at E-Distribuție Muntenia's Territorial Centre for Large Consumer Verifications. In May, he came first in the energy metering category at the company phase of the competition.

His interest in the electrician's profession came from his father, who also worked in the field. "I liked what he did. I also had an energy college not far from home. I'm from Bucharest, but I went to high school in Buftea, it was the closest. I got a job right after that and went through all the steps, I mean the measuring part", he recalls. He started with single-phase meters, went to the army, went back to direct three-phase meters, and moved up. "When you go through all the stages it's easier, if you want to learn, because you're not jumping from one to another. And if you know how to take risks and stay out of the way, you don't have any problems. The important thing is to follow strict rules on work protection. We laugh, we joke, but for a quarter of an hour while you're in the electrical installation you have to be serious."

He says a lot has changed since he started working until today. "Back then we didn't have the equipment, otherwise we were working through the 90s. Gradually, we developed. And with the arrival of Enel, we got high-tech equipment."

He finds satisfaction even in the competitions he enters. "Otherwise, you choose a profession and practice it", he says. At large consumer checks, they also have young colleagues. "I tell them they have to go through all the steps, like we did. It's a broad profession and it's hard otherwise. Some say: you're an electrician, you're every man with his piece. That's not quite true. And be serious, want to learn."

He spends his free time with his family, his wife, and his child, a student in the 11th grade. Sometimes they go for bike rides in the park. Or he tends to the small garden of their home in Bucharest. "Nothing complicated, more like a hobby."

He has participated in the Electrician's Trophy since before 2005. "Then, for a long period, I didn't participate, until 2014, when it was organized by E-Distribuție in Tulcea. Since then I have been every year, I have taken first place at the company level in other editions, and I have taken second and third place individually, the national phase of the contest, and even first place with the team. I think I got every year an award, individually or with the team." What motivates him? "Both the prize and seeing other colleagues, and at some point it becomes an ambition. But you also need to train in your spare time, especially on the theory side. It's not like it used to be, nowadays if you don't study you don't do anything."

The electricity is invisible

Iulică Cojocaru is an electrician at E-Distribuție Muntenia, at the MV/LV North Operating Unit in Floreasca, and in the internal competition, he came first in the distribution network operation category.

He is 59 years old and remembers: "As it was in the old days, in an advertisement I found that students could register to become electricians at the No. 4 Energetic High School in Bucharest. I registered myself, took an entrance exam, entered the school, and after finishing school I got a job, that was in 1982."

"And I can say that I am an electrician who has been through all the electrical forks - I worked on underground power lines, then on substations and power points, then I moved on to the rapid intervention service.... I worked at each for 10 years. Since Enel came, I've been working as an operating electrician. But I learnt pretty much everything on the MV, JV, operation, electrical networks side", he says after more than four decades of professional experience.

He took part at the Electrician's Trophy for curiosity. "To see what's going on there." He believes that responsibility increases with age. "As we get older we seem to be more responsible than when we are young. In youth, we have more courage. Then we realise that the most important thing is to stay whole and return home safely to our families, because we are responsible to them too. In our case, the object of work is something invisible and we have always considered it not as our enemy, but as the one waiting for us to make a mistake."

Each time, he put safety first: "We always assessed the risks and only then went on to the execution part. The electricity is not visible and we always have to think about it. Wherever we intervene, checking for the absence or presence of voltage is a fundamental rule." He is always aware that an electrocution can be fatal, which is why he can't call a working day 'normal', but the days look the way he wants them to.

Professional training, attention and responsibility are key if you want to be a good electrician. He likes the Buddy Partner and Stop Work concepts promoted in the company. "Every job is like an assignment that can cost you your life", he says, not forgetting his constant concern for his teammate.

Not once has he participated in actions outside E-Distribuție Muntenia. When there were special interventions, he went to Tulcea, Timisoara, Urziceni... "I'm one of those who didn't miss any of these special actions, mainly due to weather conditions. And there we always gave our best and we went beyond our limits because the weather was not friendly to us."

He has been among the winners of the Electrician's Trophy for the past ten years and is proud of every entry. "I realized that even at an older age you can perform. And my younger colleagues have an example that it's possible if there is responsibility."

With the team, he took first place at the national phase in 2018. "I hope we're lucky again this year because that's how it is in life, we have to think that there's something divine to help us. But also to be careful and try day by day to evolve, not to regress." Preparing for the contest invigorates him and he says all the participants are winners.

In his spare time, he devotes himself to family and farming. "We live near Bucharest, in the village of Săftica, and I'm passionate about farming. I have a garden, a small solarium where I do all kinds of experiments, an orchard of trees." I found him doing plans to make sure his plants don't suffer while he's away from home, during the week of preparation for the Electrician's Trophy practical test.

You need to be like a boxer, always on guard

Florin-Iulian Zgura is 42 years old and works in the Operations and Maintenance Department of E-Distribuție Dobrogea. He is a native of Botosani living in Constanta. This year, when the distribution network dispatcher category was for the first time in the internal phase of the Electrician's Trophy, he won first place. However, the category is not in the national phase.

Since childhood, he has been fascinated by all things electrical. "I chose my job as a child. First I tried it at home, without school, and then I studied electrical engineering at Iasi. I worked for 10 years for another company and since 2015 I have been at E-Distribuție Dobrogea. I was interested from a young age in why a light bulb lights up or how a pump works if you plug it in..."

He is the father of a 3-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy, whom he is trying to attract to the same career. "I've taken him to work a few times to see what I'm doing, he's fascinated by what's going on too, but I think less than I was at his age (laughs). Kids have access to more information today, and they have other attractions, but he likes this area too. But for me, it was a very good choice."

He has always practiced his profession with love and a sense of responsibility, and after graduation, he continued to attend training courses, and went to trade fairs in Germany, in Ulm and Munich, in the Czech Republic, and in Prague. "I was constantly interested in further training, I am III A, IV B certified."

Being a dispatcher involves fewer physical risks, but the pressure is high. "For the fellow electricians we work with, who are our eyes, ears, and hands, there are huge risks. That's why, when we start maneuvering, we first talk to them, get close to them, and see what condition they are in. If something happens, nothing physical happens to us, but they do." He always has this responsibility in mind and always emphasizes the human side of the job - listening to the person doing the work in the field, making sure that this person is not tired and will be safe.

The dispatchers' schedule involves cycles of shifts. "Every day is special and you have to be like the boxer, always on guard, because no two breakdowns are the same and we have to be ready for any challenge anytime."

Unlike other branches in the company, there are young colleagues among the dispatchers. "Some of them are very good, although they don't yet have hands-on experience. Three or four have come straight out of school, but they are smart and adapt quickly." His advice to them: "Be calculated, think twice, and act once, like a tailor, put what you do through the mind filter. Unlike other professions where if you get a paper wrong, you tear it up and write another one, here you can't do anything if you get it wrong".

In his case, free time is for family and involves trips to the parks with his little girl, toys, and scooters; he also doesn't hesitate to cook or help with household chores. And holidays are for traveling.

Taking part in the Electrician's Trophy was first and foremost a challenge. "I went to prove to myself and my colleagues that if you want it, you can do it. With a bit of study, because it's not exactly easy to take time off for reading, for preparation. But if you want to, you can! I say that all the time to the younger guys. But it's also study." Which is good, he adds, because in any profession things get a bit automatic at some point, which can become dangerous.

We've just introduced you to some of our electrician colleagues who have qualified for the national stage of the Electrician's Trophy competition, to be held in July in Timisoara, organized this year by the E-Distribuțue companies. We wish all the participants from E-Distribuție and other companies good luck and hope they enjoy this long-established event where the best electricians meet.