Overton Power Internships Explore Careers In Power Industry

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Despite growing up in the Moapa Valley, Taylor Schwartz didn’t know much about Overton Power District two months ago. The BYU-Idaho student was happily studying mechanical engineering and had never really thought about how the power got to his computer, as long as it came on in time to finish his homework.

That all changed, however, when Schwartz went off track for school and was looking for a job. Along the way, he learned about the OPD internship program and decided to apply. He was accepted into the program.

The OPD program is a 10-week paid internship that targets students enrolled in a college or technical program in accounting, business, engineering, construction or similar related fields. It aims to give local students an idea of what a career at OPD would be like.
“The program is beneficial to both the company and the interns,” explained Schwartz’s supervisor Randall Ozaki of OPD. “We move the interns around to different parts of the company so they can get a feel for what they might be interested in. At the same time, it gives us an opportunity to see what type of workers these interns are for future hiring choices.”
Schwartz said that the program has been eye-opening for him. “I have definitely learned a lot more about the layout of power lines, the different parts of the power poles, transformers, and underground circuits than I ever knew or even thought about before,” he said. “It’s been very educational.”

Schwartz is only about 4 weeks into his program and says it has been anything but boring. Lately he has been out in the field doing pole testing.
“I never thought about pole testing before, but now I know how important it is,” Schwartz said. “First, we check the diameter of the pole. That way we know how far to drill in so we won’t break our needle. Then we have a device that inserts a needle into every pole to let us know how much decay is going on in the pole. That way we know which poles need to be replaced. It’s been really interesting.”

Schwartz will also do a rotation in accounting and one in operations to give him an idea of the breadth of opportunities the district has to offer.
Schwartz grew up in Moapa Valley and graduated from MVHS in 2012. He originally attended UNLV, but transferred to BYU-Idaho after serving an LDS mission in Mexico.

He became interested in mechanical engineering because of the math involved. “Math has always been one of my stronger subjects so I’ve always been intrigued by mechanical engineering,” he said. “This internship has worked right along with that.”

Schwartz encourages others to apply and take part in the program. “This is a great program,” he said. “It stays interesting because you rotate between jobs. It’s great because it’s not like you’re doing backbreaking work and you get to work with great people. It’s enjoyable and I really look forward to coming to work every day.”

Ozaki stressed that potential interns do not need to have any prior experience. Part of the internship is training them in different jobs so they can see which ones they enjoy and for which ones they have an affinity.

Applications are currently being accepted for the upcoming rotation. Students who are interested can apply online at www.opd5.com, or can drop by one of the OPD office locations and pick up an application.