Steve Daniel is an Unsung Hero engineering success for Alabama Power
Steve Daniel (left) provides technical assistance and guidance to field engineers for Alabama Power and across Southern Company. (contributed)
Steve Daniel is an unsung hero in the workplace, at home and across the country.
Daniel works as the Alabama Power (APC) principal engineer in Distribution Engineering Services and the Southern Company lead product engineer for underground cable and accessories and distribution automation. His role focuses on underground services, providing technical assistance to field engineers regarding distribution construction standards and power service construction.
Daniel specifies and approves equipment and underground cable the company purchases for underground distribution construction. This requires Daniel to communicate and meet with other engineers on the Southern Company level to standardize equipment used companywide.
Steve Daniel is an Alabama Power Unsung Hero from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
After earning an engineering degree at UAB, Daniel began working at APC in 1974. He has worked as a line crew supervisor and engineering supervisor and became a principal engineer in 2003 after completing his master’s degree in electrical engineering.
Daniel starts his day by attending meetings to update and create new construction standards or equipment designs, and often travels to various company locations to discuss system planning or equipment needs and orders.
Shane Powell, Distribution Support manager in Engineering Services, said Daniel, “comes into the office every day with a smile on his face” and “regardless of the project you give him or what you ask of him, he’s going to go above and beyond to quickly and efficiently complete that task.”
Daniel is a storm-staging area director in and out of state, providing direction for storm restoration services.
During the Blizzard of 1993, Daniel awoke to thunder in a snowstorm and called for transportation to the office to dispatch storm-trouble operations. The next day, Daniel joined a helicopter patrol to assess power line damage.
“We rode in the helicopter for an hour and when the assessment trip was over, I was seasick from looking down, following the pole line checking for damage,” Daniel said.
In 2011, APC traveled to New Jersey to help with snowstorm restoration. Daniel was assistant storm team director and worked with 10 line crews on tasks assigned by Public Service Electric and Gas of New Jersey (PSEG). Daniel spent two weeks working with PSEG and APC line crews, locating work sites and setting up staging areas large enough to hold the APC command center, equipment and trucks. After the work was complete, Daniel and his APC crews made the three-day trip home from New Jersey.
When Daniel isn’t working, he spends his free time with family. When Daniel and his wife, Sherry, became empty nesters, they sold their home in Birmingham and built a log cabin on Neely Henry Lake, where Daniel installed most of the electrical wiring.
Daniel’s co-worker, Principal Engineer Bob Cheney – called “CheneyBob” by friends – spent a day helping Daniel wire the cabin. When they finished, Daniel realized everything was not working properly.
“I came to work the next day and asked CheneyBob about it, so he came out another day and helped me make the correct connections, so everything worked,” said Daniel. “I consider his contribution to my home wiring a significant investment from a co-worker and I appreciate him very much.”
Daniel’s children and seven grandchildren regularly visit at the lake, enjoying boating, fishing and kayaking. Daniel and his wife are members of the Neely Henry Lake Association and give back to their community by taking part in Renew Our Rivers cleanups.
Daniel takes his wife on an annual Gatlinburg vacation to hike in the Smokey Mountains and to Gulf Shores to search for the best seafood on the coast.
Daniel is chairman of the deacons and Sunday school director at First Baptist Church Ashville.
Looking back over his experiences, Daniel said, “Learn all you can about how to do your job, but more importantly, partner with other employees to work effectively … Invest in others and help them as well.”
