A local resident who for 20 years oversaw the maintenance and operation of BPA's power lines in the midsection of the Pacific Northwest has retired. His replacement will be named soon, said Vickie VanZandt, BPA's senior vice president, Transmission Business Line.

"Truman Conn is one of BPA's most knowledgeable resources in understanding the construction, operation and maintenance of the transmission system," VanZandt said. "His can-do attitude has kept the region's transmission system up and running under some very difficult circumstances over the years. We are going to greatly miss his leadership and expertise."

As the regional manager, Conn supervised maintenance and operation of 1,400 miles of high voltage transmission lines in an area from Yakima south to John Day and east to Lewiston and the Idaho border. Utilities in this area receive power from BPA's grid and distribute it to their customers.

In all, Conn spent 42 years in public service, beginning with summer jobs as a student. He came to BPA in 1967 as a summer engineering technician while attending Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1968 with a degree in electrical engineering. He then became a permanent employee, advancing from technical positions into management.

Conn played key roles on several major construction projects during his career. Among them was the integration of the Colstrip Generating Project in eastern Montana to the BPA transmission grid. This required the construction of 160 miles of transmission line to bring power from the plants in eastern Montana into the BPA grid.

"Over the years Truman dealt with many transmission system emergencies, restoring power and equipment after outages caused by winter storms," VanZandt said. "Throughout his career, Truman has been respected for his unusual initiative, tenacity and dedication to BPA."

Conn was known for his ability to work with people, systems and processes. In the areas of both employee and customer relations, he excelled, Van Zandt said. He had a special interest in recruiting engineers from western colleges and supported the hiring of under-represented minorities as student aids and student engineers.

VanZandt said the regional manager position in Walla Walla will be filled on an interim basis pending a permanent appointment later this year.