As 2022 came to a close, so too did the electric utility career of Ben Beagle, Tideland’s manager of engineering and operations.

Ben Beagle’s most challenging project was the 2020 Ocracoke submarine cable expansion at the south end of Hatteras Island.

During his tenure with the co-op, Beagle oversaw ambitious workplans that set the stage for a more efficient and reliable era of electric service to Tideland’s growing membership.

The most tedious of those improvements was development of a modern, integrated mapping system with GPS coordinates and detailed data about all co-op infrastructure including poles, transformers, conductors and crossarm assemblies. That project kicked off a recurring inspection program that allows the co-op to anticipate and proactively address system maintenance, thus reducing outage frequency.

Beagle and his team implemented automated metering infrastructure (AMI) with the wholesale change out of all co-op meters. That ushered in the ability of the co-op to verify consumers impacted by power outages quickly. Automated outage identification also narrowed down the trouble area for crews to focus on when confirming the outage cause. That in and of itself has tremendously reduced outage time and also made possible the introduction of our outage text messaging service to keep members informed. AMI deployment also made it possible for members to access interval data about their own energy use via the member portal and various text and email alert options.

“Mr. Beagle is to be commended not only for running the race of a long and respected career, but he finished it with the determination to clear a path forward for Tideland EMC..."

During his 13 years of service with Tideland, Beagle led co-op operations through 14 hurricane and tropical events including the most devastating storm in our 82-year history, Hurricane Florence.

Beagle said the most ambitious and challenging construction project of his tenure was the 2020 submarine cable extension on the south end of Hatteras Island. The logistics of completing the $3.5 million project involved multiple agencies and contractors with Mother Nature being the most unpredictable part of the equation.

Tideland CEO Paul Spruill said, “Mr. Beagle is to be commended not only for running the race of a long and respected career, but he finished it with the determination to clear a path forward for Tideland EMC as we move through time together in the most productive way for our membership.