The Bob Elliott Show Ep. 36 - Susan Gray | CEO of TEP

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[2:39] From Wildcats [music] legend and NBA

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[3:05] Hello and welcome to another edition of

[3:07] the Bob Elliot Show. You know, one of

[3:09] the things that we like to do, we like

[3:11] to educate. We like to have fun. And

[3:14] yes, this is not about politics and it's

[3:17] not about religion. However, as you will

[3:20] know from the past, I may have a

[3:22] politician or political issues. I may

[3:24] have a religious person on the show, but

[3:27] the key is to try to get to know this

[3:30] person as a person. Regardless what

[3:32] you've seen on TV, on radio, in the

[3:35] newspapers,

[3:37] a lot of times you think because of

[3:38] that, you think you might know this

[3:40] person. Well, I'm here to let you know

[3:43] that is not true. And I know it's

[3:45] happened to me many times. So, my guest

[3:47] today is Susan Gray, who's the president

[3:49] CEO of TEP. Welcome to the show.

[3:51] >> Thanks, Bob. Um me with my nickname of

[3:54] being big bird, I say we're in the

[3:55] bird's nest right [laughter] now. So

[3:57] we're gonna have a good time.

[3:59] >> And so the key is I want people to find

[4:02] out about you, to know you. And the

[4:04] thing I love about this format, you

[4:06] know, we've done interviews before for

[4:08] press people. You have, I have.

[4:11] 20-minute interview and out of it comes

[4:14] two lines.

[4:16] I'm like, wait, wait, that that's

[4:17] editing. You're missing something. So,

[4:19] this is a chance for you to let people

[4:21] know who you are, unedited, your words

[4:25] about how you grew up. So, let's go back

[4:28] with the DVD, where were you born, and

[4:30] tell us about Susan.

[4:31] >> Yeah, thanks, Bob. So glad to be on your

[4:33] show today. Appreciate the time with

[4:35] you.

[4:35] >> Uh, I was born in Walnut Creek,

[4:37] California, so grew up in the Bay Area.

[4:40] My dad actually worked for PG&E, the

[4:43] electric and gas company

[4:44] >> in uh in the Bay Area. And uh so we

[4:47] moved around a little bit. Went to high

[4:48] school in San Jose.

[4:50] >> Okay.

[4:50] >> Uh spent a good a good portion of my

[4:53] years in Fresno, California, which I

[4:55] think is a lot like Tucson. You know,

[4:56] it's hot. It is. Yes.

[4:58] >> College town.

[4:59] >> Uh so I I think that's probably what

[5:01] drew me to Tucson is just that my time

[5:03] in Fresno that I like so much.

[5:05] >> Right. Oh, definitely. Yeah. Fresno is

[5:07] not far from uh oldest daughter grew up

[5:09] had her family over in Elkrove.

[5:11] >> Oh, yeah.

[5:12] >> Which is kind of close to there. So

[5:14] you're back there in that area. You're

[5:16] growing up. So any recollection of

[5:19] things like elementary school, middle

[5:22] school, high school,

[5:24] >> what made you think?

[5:25] >> I don't think anyone really wants to

[5:26] think about middle school, [laughter]

[5:28] >> you know, that is so true.

[5:29] >> Years,

[5:30] >> you know, that is a common element

[5:33] across everything. Something about

[5:34] middle school, it's just [laughter] not

[5:36] there. You know, you you you think

[5:38] you're grown, but you're not grown. You

[5:40] you're a little kid, but you don't want

[5:42] to be a little kid. did not know it.

[5:43] That's true.

[5:43] >> Yeah. So, when when I was three or four,

[5:46] we moved to San Jose, California, and

[5:48] the format of housing there is there's

[5:50] like a neighborhood pool. So, you don't

[5:52] have a pool like here, everybody has

[5:53] their own pool at their house, right?

[5:55] >> But in San Jose, it's kind of a water

[5:57] conservation thing, but there's a

[5:58] neighborhood pool. And we spent like

[6:00] we'd wake up in the morning, have

[6:01] breakfast, go to the pool all day.

[6:03] >> Okay. Okay.

[6:04] >> And eventually they started a swim team.

[6:07] >> All right.

[6:07] >> And here I'm the youngest of three. And

[6:10] so, my brother and sister were on that

[6:11] team. I was like, "Well, I have to be on

[6:12] that team."

[6:13] >> That's right.

[6:14] >> And uh so I I I could swim one lap. I

[6:16] could make it across the pool and uh and

[6:18] started racing when I was four.

[6:20] >> Okay.

[6:21] >> Yep.

[6:21] >> So that's when swimming got into your

[6:23] veins.

[6:24] >> That's right.

[6:25] >> Okay. Good. And that'll tie into later

[6:27] on. Uh went to high school.

[6:30] >> Yep. Went to high school in San Jose,

[6:31] California.

[6:32] >> And we're on the swim team.

[6:33] >> Yep.

[6:35] >> Any other sports?

[6:36] >> I did gymnastics through sixth grade,

[6:39] competitive gymnastics. And then my swim

[6:41] coach was like, "You got to pick." And

[6:42] that's and I didn't know this, but he

[6:44] was headed towards I was going to start

[6:46] doing two a days if I pick swimming.

[6:48] >> Okay.

[6:48] >> So in seventh grade, I started two a

[6:50] days, which my my poor parents to drive

[6:53] me. [laughter]

[6:54] >> Yes. Yes. I I I know that life.

[6:57] >> Yeah, you do. [laughter]

[6:59] >> You know, the thing that uh we as

[7:01] parents, when you have kids that are

[7:03] very active like that, you can't wait

[7:05] until they turn 16.

[7:08] So you don't have to be the taxi

[7:09] everywhere, right?

[7:10] >> You're not gonna let them have free

[7:11] reign to drive wherever they want to.

[7:13] >> But definitely some of that take them to

[7:15] practice, etc. You can take that off

[7:17] your plate.

[7:18] >> My mom let me miss school the morning I

[7:20] turned 16 so we could go get my license.

[7:22] Like she was like, "We're not messing

[7:24] around. [laughter] We're doing it

[7:25] today."

[7:26] >> Right. That's right. That's right. Yeah.

[7:27] Cuz that was for her.

[7:29] >> That was That's [laughter] right.

[7:31] >> All right. So you're in the high school

[7:32] swim team. And then what colleges were

[7:35] you looking at to go to? I really wanted

[7:37] to go to Stanford,

[7:39] >> which I didn't think I was good enough

[7:41] to swim there. They were usually a top

[7:43] three school.

[7:45] >> And um so I applied for academics. I

[7:49] didn't I didn't actually pursue a swim a

[7:51] swim opportunity there.

[7:53] >> I went on a recruiting trip to Colombia

[7:55] University in New York.

[7:57] >> Was not excited to swim in the basement.

[8:00] [laughter]

[8:02] Uh, and then UC Santa Barbara was, you

[8:05] know, probably a really good choice,

[8:07] [clears throat] but I think if I lived

[8:08] by the beach, I probably never would

[8:09] have gone to school.

[8:10] >> Oh, okay.

[8:11] >> Um, but came out here on a recruiting

[8:13] trip. Frank Bush brought me in. I

[8:15] [clears throat] was in his first

[8:16] recruiting class here at the university

[8:19] >> and just fell in love. I [clears throat]

[8:20] mean, it's so sunny here. Like, what

[8:22] what better place to swim?

[8:23] >> Yes.

[8:24] >> Um, the men and women swim together and

[8:26] it was a top 10 program.

[8:28] >> Yes. Yeah. You mentioned Frank Bush and

[8:30] and recently he just passed away as a

[8:32] lot of us know in this area. Um,

[8:36] unbelievable guy. Unbelievable guy.

[8:38] Share some Frank Bush stories. Let's

[8:41] let's let's deviate a little bit from

[8:43] Susan Gay's life to what Frank Bush

[8:45] meant to you.

[8:46] >> Well, I would gladly honor Frank on this

[8:48] show because he's an amazing guy and

[8:50] he's someone that had an impact on me in

[8:53] college but continued to impact me into

[8:55] my adult life. like he's just a, you

[8:57] know, just a really neat guy.

[8:59] >> Uh, I really appreciated that he would

[9:01] get in the thick of it with us. So,

[9:04] >> we're out there running on the student

[9:06] mall or the UVA mall at 2:00 in the

[9:09] afternoon.

[9:09] >> Oh.

[9:10] >> And he's running right there with us.

[9:11] Like, he was put, you know, he was

[9:13] willing to jump in and do it with us.

[9:15] He'd run stadium steps with us.

[9:17] >> Um, we did a million situps every day

[9:19] and he's right there. You know, we'd

[9:21] joke with him, tease him about not being

[9:23] in as good a shape as us, but man, I'd

[9:25] love to be in the shape he was

[9:26] [laughter] in.

[9:28] >> No, no, he great people. Great people.

[9:30] But

[9:31] >> and then I think just, you know, I think

[9:32] all of us kind of felt like he was a a

[9:34] father figure. He, you know, and he

[9:36] >> formed a relationship for life. It

[9:38] wasn't just about, you know, what were

[9:40] you doing in the pool, but how are you

[9:42] >> becoming a, you know, a productive

[9:45] human?

[9:46] >> Yes. So, you come to UVA. Uh what were

[9:50] you studying at first at the U of A?

[9:52] >> I started in biology premed.

[9:54] >> Okay. And from there it must have

[9:58] shifted into something with business.

[10:00] >> Yeah. Actually engineering.

[10:02] >> Okay.

[10:02] >> So I I kind of felt like I might not get

[10:04] into med school. I didn't have the best

[10:06] grades and uh

[10:09] >> not taking school as seriously as I

[10:11] should. Right.

[10:11] >> So I thought well maybe you know if I

[10:13] don't get into med school I could do

[10:14] biomedical engineering. So I switched to

[10:17] electrical

[10:18] >> okay

[10:18] >> engineering. So I'm actually a third

[10:20] generation electrical engineer.

[10:22] >> Okay.

[10:22] >> My dad and my grandpa. Um

[10:25] >> had no intention of going into the

[10:26] utility industry but uh it found me.

[10:29] Right.

[10:30] >> Yeah. So yeah, electrical engineering

[10:31] and then I did also get an MBA at the

[10:33] University of Arizona

[10:35] >> and that's when you and I first met each

[10:36] other when you were getting your MBA.

[10:39] Um, as one of the things people have

[10:40] figured out about this show, um, almost

[10:43] every guest that comes on, I have some

[10:46] kind of a background with them. So, uh,

[10:49] but no, then you get your MBA. Uh, you

[10:52] know, you talked about, uh, it being

[10:54] tough to swim and go to school at the

[10:58] same time. Let's talk about that a

[10:59] little bit because me myself having done

[11:01] that too,

[11:03] it's tough. you know, the requirements

[11:05] of being a student athlete at a major

[11:08] school like University of Arizona,

[11:10] there's 24 hours in a day.

[11:12] >> Yep.

[11:13] >> So, you have classwork, you have

[11:16] practice time, you have study time, you

[11:20] have the classes themselves somewhere in

[11:22] there, you want to have some kind of a

[11:24] social life. Well, next thing you know,

[11:26] you're going to pass 24 hours.

[11:28] [laughter] How did you deal with that?

[11:29] How did you deal with that? What I call

[11:30] the time management of being a student

[11:32] athlete? Yeah, it's funny because with

[11:34] swimming, you know, swimming's year

[11:35] round.

[11:36] >> So even even in high school, like I

[11:39] actually do better when I don't have a

[11:41] lot of time, a lot of free time

[11:43] >> because I don't I can't

[11:45] >> I I just have to start the work. And so

[11:47] come home from practice and you do your

[11:49] homework and you go to bed and you get

[11:50] up and do it all the next day.

[11:52] >> Um I actually slack more when I have

[11:55] extra time because then I spend that

[11:57] extra time more than once.

[11:59] >> Right. Right. No, no, that makes sense.

[12:01] That makes sense. So then, okay, you get

[12:03] your MBA. So when you know, it's funny

[12:06] uh you had that that uh growing up with

[12:09] your dad being at PG&E. So you had some

[12:13] experiences of seeing the utility

[12:16] company uh in your life? So going into

[12:20] after school, when did you start to

[12:22] think about what do I do for a career?

[12:25] >> Yeah. Uh, so I actually wanted to stay

[12:29] in Tucson while I was still in school,

[12:31] spend the summer in Tucson. I met a boy.

[12:34] You've met that boy, Josh. We've been

[12:35] married for 31 years now.

[12:36] >> Yes, indeed.

[12:37] >> And uh, he was a Tucson native. And so,

[12:40] you know, obviously he was staying for

[12:41] the summer. And I was like, oh, I got to

[12:42] find a job in Tucson this summer. My

[12:44] dad's like, [clears throat] why don't

[12:45] you see if TEP has an internship,

[12:47] >> right?

[12:48] >> And so, just a couple weeks before

[12:50] school got out, I got an internship. And

[12:52] so, I just thought, yeah, this is just a

[12:54] summer job. I can have fun in Tucson

[12:56] this summer and then I actually stayed

[12:59] on as an intern for a couple of years as

[13:01] I finished my degree.

[13:02] >> Okay. And that's how the TE life

[13:05] started.

[13:05] >> Yeah. And I really fell in love with uh

[13:08] you know I like the work, but I really

[13:09] love the people and the culture and just

[13:11] you know the just

[13:14] >> the work we do is important. I don't

[13:16] think I recognized that necessarily when

[13:18] I was you know first starting out but um

[13:21] it was more interesting than I expected.

[13:23] My dad didn't make it look that

[13:24] interesting.

[13:25] >> Okay. [laughter] So, so when he came

[13:27] home, he left the office and to

[13:28] [clears throat] work at out where it was

[13:30] at and didn't necessarily bring it home

[13:31] with him.

[13:32] >> He was bringing home paperwork and what

[13:33] kid wants to bring home paperwork,

[13:35] right? [laughter]

[13:36] >> That's right. Dad, I want to see what

[13:37] you're doing. No, I don't.

[13:40] >> Yeah.

[13:41] >> So, so then you end up going into the TE

[13:44] system and you move up. And I think what

[13:47] I'd love to do is to talk about, okay,

[13:49] full disclosure. Okay. I was on the

[13:51] board of directors of the company

[13:54] Unisource that owned TE for 19 years. I

[13:57] was the chair of the board for 11 years.

[13:59] However, this is is not about politics.

[14:02] It's about education. So, I'd like to

[14:05] educate people about what it is that TEP

[14:08] does. Um, there's three different

[14:11] functions, okay? There's you have to

[14:13] generate the electricity or make it you

[14:17] have to transmit it to the different

[14:20] places that will then distribute it. So

[14:22] break it down. Let's have TE class 101.

[14:26] Okay.

[14:26] >> What TEP does for this community to

[14:29] provide safe reliable service.

[14:32] >> Yeah. And I think that's somewhat unique

[14:34] in Arizona. The the utilities are

[14:36] vertically integrated is what we call it

[14:38] when we do all three functions.

[14:39] generation, transmission and

[14:41] distribution.

[14:42] >> And so I mean this is uh you know

[14:45] >> it takes decades to plan what we're

[14:48] going to do to serve our customers. We

[14:50] have every three years we go through a

[14:52] really robust process to develop an

[14:54] integrated resource plan that says okay

[14:56] over the next 15 years this is the the

[14:59] growth that we expect to see

[15:01] >> on our system and here's how we're going

[15:03] to serve it and so that we can plan you

[15:06] know years and years in advance to build

[15:08] up. I mean those those power plants take

[15:10] you know 10 years to build years before

[15:13] that to plan.

[15:14] >> Yes.

[15:15] >> Uh same thing with transmission lines.

[15:16] So, we're um you know, it's a it's a

[15:19] heavy construction industry, but it's

[15:21] really also it's high-tech and it's a

[15:24] lot of long range planning.

[15:26] >> You know, the thing that used to amaze

[15:28] me about uh that type of a workload um

[15:33] is how you have to plan. It's not the

[15:37] opposite of what TEP deals with is when

[15:41] you see all these different restaurants

[15:43] that in town that close down and it's a

[15:46] turnkey and somebody walks in there and

[15:48] it's something else. [laughter] Okay.

[15:50] That's shortterm type life,

[15:52] >> right?

[15:52] >> That is the opposite of what happens

[15:55] with TEP.

[15:56] >> Yeah, that's true. And I mean, you know,

[15:57] we take a lot of pride in the

[16:00] reliability of our service. we are 99.9%

[16:04] of the time the power is flowing to your

[16:06] house and and that

[16:08] >> that does not happen by accident. That

[16:10] takes a lot of people with a lot of

[16:12] dedication and u making sure that we're

[16:15] maintaining our system and staying ahead

[16:18] of the challenges that that we face.

[16:20] >> Yes. No. No. See, that's um that's some

[16:23] of the educational process that I wanted

[16:24] to get into today so that people

[16:27] understand what it is for TEP at home or

[16:32] in the office. Flip the switch and

[16:36] you've got electricity. But what goes

[16:38] into all of that? And as you were

[16:40] talking about, it's not like an a

[16:42] short-term plan. It is a long-term plan

[16:45] that has been going on for a long time

[16:48] and will go on for a long time if you

[16:50] provide reliable safe service to

[16:53] everybody.

[16:54] >> Yeah.

[16:55] >> So, so no, it it um like I've always

[16:58] been amazed at how you have to

[17:01] coordinate those three different

[17:02] functions, you know, the the generation,

[17:05] the transmission, the distribution.

[17:09] Um,

[17:11] explain to some people about the

[17:12] generation because there's a lot of

[17:14] people say, "Oh, we got the sun out

[17:16] here. We must can go to solar."

[17:18] >> Yep.

[17:19] >> It's not as easy as it sounds,

[17:21] >> right? And that that solar is free.

[17:23] Right. Right. Which is true. Once you

[17:25] build the plant and you have the panels

[17:27] that can absorb the sun, uh there there

[17:30] isn't a lot of ongoing cost other than

[17:32] the maintenance. But we uh so our energy

[17:35] mix is um we do have a little bit of

[17:38] coal still left in our system and we're

[17:40] phasing that out. By 2031 we'll be um

[17:43] completely coal free uh natural gas

[17:46] generation and um but but we have since

[17:50] 2019 only built renewable resources. So

[17:53] solar, wind, battery storage because we

[17:56] do want to we do want to impact our

[17:59] environment in a in a positive way. And

[18:02] we're we have an aspirational goal to be

[18:04] net zero by 2050. And so we're adding

[18:07] these renewable resources to our our

[18:09] system. There were a lot of tax

[18:10] incentives at one point. We took

[18:12] advantage of that. Um and so uh we

[18:16] capture a lot of the sun during the day.

[18:18] And then we now have uh quite a bit of

[18:20] battery storage. We've increased our

[18:22] battery storage by tfold in the last

[18:24] year. um so that we can store that

[18:26] excess energy during the day when it's

[18:28] cheap and then dispatch it in the

[18:31] evening as the sun's going down. And

[18:33] that's actually when our peak of usage

[18:35] happens is, you know, around dinner

[18:37] time. So the sun's going down.

[18:38] >> Everybody's at home.

[18:39] >> Everybody's home. They have their AC on.

[18:41] They're running their ovens, all the

[18:42] things. And uh and that solar is now

[18:45] starting to trickle off, right? It's not

[18:48] the sun's not available. So those

[18:50] batteries can capture that energy

[18:52] >> and use it when we need it most. You

[18:55] know, um I remember back in the day I

[18:57] used to get the question about

[18:59] and sometimes you like to I like to go

[19:01] into what I call the lowest common

[19:03] denominator. Meaning they talk about

[19:06] coal being not good for the environment.

[19:09] So let's let's expand on that. Why is

[19:11] coal such an issue with generating

[19:15] electricity?

[19:17] >> Yeah, there's a lot of carbon emissions,

[19:19] carbon dioxide. there's other chemicals

[19:22] that you know knocks and socks and all

[19:24] the all these

[19:26] >> chemicals that we don't think about

[19:28] every day and it and it uses a lot of

[19:29] water.

[19:30] >> Um and so even just converting from coal

[19:34] to gas, which is what we're going to do

[19:36] in our Springerville power plant up in

[19:38] the White Mountains, um will reduce our

[19:41] our carbon emissions by more than half

[19:44] and water usage by more than half. So,

[19:47] um, natural gas is readily available. It

[19:50] can run through the night, which is what

[19:52] we need is that dispatchable resource,

[19:55] um, that it's much cleaner than coal.

[19:57] >> Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's I said I I I love

[20:00] the educational aspect of what we're

[20:02] doing today because I think a lot of

[20:04] people do not understand what all goes

[20:07] into providing

[20:10] that electricity that when you flip on a

[20:12] switch or you turn on the stereo the TV.

[20:14] It's like there's a lot that goes into

[20:16] that and and as you said earlier, you

[20:19] know, it's not a shortterm process. You

[20:23] have to schedule this out. you have to

[20:25] plan for this years almost decades in

[20:28] advance. Um then of course there's the

[20:31] issue of people think solar because you

[20:33] know I I remember from my days with the

[20:36] Chamber of Commerce that Tucson has the

[20:38] most sunny days of any city in the US.

[20:42] So like 335 out of 365 days we get sun

[20:46] which is nice for golfers

[20:48] >> and swimmers

[20:48] >> and swimmers. [laughter]

[20:50] That's right. But it doesn't translate

[20:53] as easy as sometimes people think into

[20:57] generating electricity. So, so you were

[21:00] saying some about what you have to do to

[21:03] take that sunlight. I I want to go back

[21:05] into that again to change it from the

[21:08] sun that we see

[21:09] >> to electricity that people can flip a

[21:12] switch.

[21:13] >> Yeah. So, we we build these massive

[21:16] solar we call them solar fields where,

[21:18] you know, we just have acres and acres

[21:20] of solar panels that are capturing that

[21:22] sun and um and bringing that energy into

[21:25] our system. And and it's great because

[21:27] like I said, there's not, you know,

[21:28] you're not burning a fuel. So, it's once

[21:31] it's up and running, there's a capital

[21:32] cost, but not not a lot of ongoing

[21:34] >> cost to run it. Um but it's not as uh

[21:39] reliable as a power plant that's fueled

[21:42] by gas or coal or, you know, burning

[21:43] because reliability function,

[21:45] >> right? So there's so because if a cloud

[21:48] >> rolls through, right? Right. Which in

[21:50] the summer there's monsoons, right? So

[21:52] it's not

[21:53] >> sunny all day. It's sunny every day, but

[21:55] not all day every day. And so as that

[21:57] cloud moves through, you can see

[21:59] >> the solar generation just

[22:01] >> drop off the cliff.

[22:03] >> And so we need to have something else

[22:04] behind that because no one's turning

[22:06] their air conditioning off when that

[22:08] cloud rolls through. So, we want to make

[22:10] sure that we're providing safe,

[22:12] reliable, affordable power to everyone

[22:15] all the time.

[22:16] >> People only think of us when the power

[22:19] goes out.

[22:19] >> Yes.

[22:21] >> Which is good that we're on, you know,

[22:23] most of the time. We actually have we're

[22:25] top quartortile in reliable reliability

[22:28] performance in the country.

[22:30] >> Good. Good.

[22:31] >> Yeah.

[22:31] >> Yeah. It it um then I start thinking

[22:34] about, you know, everybody uh wind.

[22:37] >> Mhm.

[22:37] >> And sometimes [clears throat]

[22:39] um we get a little windy around here and

[22:41] it seems like if you drive away from

[22:43] Tucson uh especially going to California

[22:46] and that you see the the big wind, you

[22:49] know, deals going on. So how does wind

[22:51] come into this in terms of providing

[22:54] maybe some other types of uh

[22:57] electricity? Yeah. So, we have a big

[22:59] wind uh farm in New Mexico near Roswell.

[23:03] >> It's out in the middle of nowhere.

[23:04] Right. Right. Because those towers are

[23:06] huge. I think they're I think our towers

[23:08] are like three times taller than the um

[23:10] than the Statue of Liberty.

[23:12] >> Oh my goodness.

[23:12] >> So, they're massive. Right.

[23:14] >> Um it really cool to go up in one and

[23:17] and kind of look out from the top. But

[23:19] >> that wind is is a great complement to

[23:22] solar because it tends to be windy, you

[23:25] know,

[23:25] >> Oh, okay.

[23:26] >> at night. And so it it does bring some

[23:28] energy in the evenings. It's not again

[23:32] >> you can't count on the wind because you

[23:33] don't know when it's going to

[23:35] >> die down all of a sudden and and so

[23:38] again you have to have other things

[23:39] available to back that up. But it is a

[23:41] really great compliment

[23:43] >> to solar. Um

[23:45] >> there it does feel windy at times in

[23:47] Tucson. It's not windy enough to build a

[23:49] plant like that here and that's why we

[23:50] built it in New Mexico. And we used a

[23:53] lot of tax incentives to um to offset

[23:56] the cost to our customers, which is

[23:57] great.

[23:58] >> Yes.

[23:58] >> Um and the major expense beyond just

[24:01] building the wind farm is the

[24:03] transmission to get it here.

[24:04] >> Yes.

[24:05] >> You're talking hundreds of line hundreds

[24:07] of miles of line to bring that power

[24:09] into our city.

[24:10] >> And remember, there's three functions.

[24:12] You generate it or make it, you transmit

[24:14] it, that's what you're just talking

[24:16] about now. And then finally gets to the

[24:17] people to distribute to to the

[24:19] individual people,

[24:20] >> right? Um, I I know just riding around I

[24:22] I will point out some of the different

[24:24] poles and lines to my grandkids.

[24:27] >> I love it. [laughter]

[24:29] >> I say, "You see that one right there?"

[24:30] Okay. See, that's one's going to the

[24:33] people. Okay. So, you're distributing

[24:35] [laughter] it to the customers, whereas

[24:37] that big one that you see there, that's

[24:39] the transmission to get it from where it

[24:41] was made over to get it to the people.

[24:45] But, um,

[24:45] >> see, Bob, you should have been an

[24:46] electrical engineer. No,

[24:48] >> we had to get you an honorary degree.

[24:50] No, I'll pass. I'll pass on that. You

[24:52] know, I was laughing with one of my old

[24:54] teammates yesterday, Jimmy Rapus, and

[24:56] and so when it came for me to choose

[24:59] something, I always wanted to be an

[25:00] accountant. Always did. So, so that was

[25:02] a no-brainer. But I remember some of the

[25:05] coaches thought I was going to go into

[25:06] music for some reason. Um, I like

[25:09] playing music, but I couldn't see, you

[25:11] know, but electrical

[25:14] engineer. No, I've got a brother who's

[25:17] an engineer.

[25:18] >> Yeah. I've got a brother who's a CPA.

[25:20] >> Okay. Now, now my brother's an engineer.

[25:22] We knew that was going to be his

[25:24] profession. He was the kid who bought a

[25:26] toy,

[25:28] turned it on, saw it worked, took it

[25:32] apart to put it back together so it

[25:35] would now work again.

[25:36] >> Yeah.

[25:37] >> Yeah. Yeah. He he had that that that as

[25:39] that that trait. No doubt about it.

[25:41] Personal question I have. I'm thinking,

[25:44] so if I'm driving to California or

[25:45] wherever and you see these wind farms

[25:48] >> and it seems like how do you determine

[25:50] which like they're not all on at the

[25:52] same time,

[25:53] >> right? The little

[25:55] How do you determine which ones go on

[25:57] and which ones don't go on?

[25:59] >> Well, part of it is the wind has to be

[26:01] blowing in that direction. And you'll

[26:03] see and like I think about driving to

[26:05] San Diego and that that wind farm that

[26:07] you see

[26:08] >> those if you look closely those uh wind

[26:11] towers are actually all at a very a

[26:13] slightly different angle.

[26:14] >> Okay.

[26:14] >> So they're kind of capturing as the wind

[26:17] shifts it might pick [clears throat] up

[26:18] one tower more strongly than another.

[26:21] >> And then also there's times where you

[26:22] just you have to do maintenance on it.

[26:24] And so they'll they'll lock it in place

[26:26] and say you know not let it turn so that

[26:28] they can do the maintenance. You don't

[26:31] want it turning if there's people up in

[26:33] there.

[26:33] >> So, this the strength of the wind

[26:35] actually triggers those things to move.

[26:39] >> That's right.

[26:39] >> It's not like somebody's sitting back in

[26:41] some room. So, I'm going to put on

[26:43] number 125 real quick. Turn it. So,

[26:45] that's

[26:45] >> No, it's like a pin wheel. I never knew.

[26:47] You think about a pin wheel. You hold it

[26:49] in front of your mouth. It doesn't start

[26:50] moving till you blow on it. Right.

[26:52] >> I love it. I love it. See, I'm learning

[26:55] something. [laughter] But that's part of

[26:56] the thing I've loved about these

[26:58] podcasts. I think I learned something at

[27:00] with every single guest that's come on.

[27:02] And that right there, you just told me

[27:04] something I didn't know. So, so we I

[27:07] know the key is

[27:10] TP wants to continue to provide

[27:13] reliable service to this community. And

[27:19] based on, you know, our conversation

[27:21] today, it's not a process that h you can

[27:24] you can't it's not a turnkey like these

[27:26] restaurants we see running around. Um it

[27:28] takes years and decades to plan for

[27:32] that.

[27:32] >> Yeah. Yeah. We've actually been in

[27:34] service here since 1892

[27:37] >> when there were 7,000

[27:39] >> people living in Tucson. And we we

[27:42] burned mosquite wood to generate power

[27:44] to serve the downtown street lights.

[27:47] Okay. That was that's our start. That's

[27:48] our origin story. So I'd love that.

[27:50] >> Fast forward to today. Million people in

[27:52] Tucson.

[27:52] >> Yes.

[27:53] >> You know, definitely not burning

[27:54] mosquite wood. No. But lots of different

[27:57] technologies that we're taking advantage

[27:59] of to serve our customers now.

[28:01] >> I love it. I love that. See, again,

[28:03] you're educating me. I didn't even know

[28:05] that that when it start when everything

[28:07] started here.

[28:08] >> Yeah. Before Arizona was even a state.

[28:10] >> Oh, see that's See, when you turn in to

[28:14] tune in to the Bob Elliot Show, you

[28:16] never know what you're going to hear,

[28:17] [laughter]

[28:18] what you're going to get educated on.

[28:20] Um, and it's something that you can

[28:22] learn. I'm big on education. My parents

[28:24] were educators, so maybe that's why I

[28:26] have that feeling for it. But, uh, no,

[28:29] you've done unbelievable job of

[28:32] educating people today about what TE

[28:35] does, what TE provides, the the amount

[28:39] of uh things it takes to make it come to

[28:44] us like it does. So, um, but Susan, you

[28:48] know, I'm glad that people hopefully

[28:49] one, uh, got to know you as a person.

[28:53] You know, person makes the job. The job

[28:55] doesn't make the person. Two is you've

[28:58] educated us about TE and what it and how

[29:01] how they provide reliable, safe service.

[29:05] >> And thank you for coming on the show.

[29:07] >> Thanks for having me, Bob. Appreciate

[29:09] it. I love it.

[29:10] >> So, be here everybody next week. Uh,

[29:14] stay safe, stay hydrated because even

[29:16] though the temperatures are not in the

[29:18] hundreds, it's still a little hot. Have

[29:21] a good week.