Radio Tubes to Cybersecurity: Commemorating a 55-Year PG&E Career

Before Lem Stubblefield Jr. celebrates his 55th anniversary with PG&E on Sept. 22, there’s one very important thing he has to do: select his milestone service award.

Since May, Lem has received numerous emails reminding him to choose his award.

“I’ve gotten everything, from pins, a globe, a television, a barbecue and a belt buckle with little gems in it,” he said, recalling past anniversaries.

Such is the dilemma for someone with 10 awards commemorating every five-year plateau.

For $135 a Week 

Lem, a telecommunications crew leader, joined PG&E two months after Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969. His coworker ID number is just four digits, compared to six for almost everyone else.

Before joining PG&E, Lem was in the Navy for four years as an electronics technician. After being discharged, he moved his wife, whom he met while based at Treasure Island, and son back to his home state of South Carolina. He spent nearly a year selling handheld calculators and copiers. “I didn’t like it that much,” said Lem.

But his father-in-law, Joe Russi, a PG&E substation operator in San Francisco, told him about an open janitor position with chances for advancement at the San Francisco Mission substation. He applied for that position and one with another company as a satellite tracking station technician.  

For Lem, the choice was easy.

“One company was going to pay me $135 a month to be a janitor and the other was going to pay me the same to be a technician, but I had to spend two years living in the middle of the ocean where I couldn’t have my family with me,” he said. “PG&E was super solid. … I’m glad I made that decision.”

Lem started his PG&E career “emptying trash cans, sweeping the floor and changing light bulbs.” After his six-month probation, he became an electrician’s helper. Lem eventually worked in San Rafael for 10 years, starting as an apprentice electrician, and then transferred to Santa Rosa where he’s been supporting telecommunications since 1982, with the exception of nearly three years in Vallejo.

A Safety Pioneer

Lem is proud of his involvement with his telecommunications grassroots safety team. In 1999, he said the team introduced many of the safety principles now practiced throughout the company. According to Lem, their efforts earned them five Shermer L. Sibley Safety & Health Awards for outstanding contributions toward the safety and health of the public, coworkers and contractors.

PG&E’s now-familiar safety cadence at the start of meetings—who’s going to call 911, sweep the room, perform CPR and get the AED—started with Lem’s grassroots safety team, he said.

“We brought safety out of the dark,” said Lem. “The old saying, ‘Safety is great, but we have a job to do’ was pervasive throughout the company, and people were getting hurt because of that. So we made safety Job One and had teams within the group that emphasized office and industrial ergonomics and safe driving.

“Our team was one of the first to have a formal grassroots team that I know of at PG&E,” continued Lem. “But it didn’t take long for other departments to jump the fence and generate their own grassroots teams.”

Lem is also proud of being one of the instructors for apprentice substation electrician training during the 1970s. “I learned a lot teaching others,” he said. “It was one of the most satisfying things I’ve done at PG&E.”

No More Checking Radio Tubes

These days, the bulk of Lem’s work involves fixing desk phones, installing and repairing truck radios and moving telecommunications equipment. “I’m a support person,” said Lem. “If you’ve got a problem, I’ll try to fix it. It’s rewarding when something isn’t working and you can fix it because of your skills. That’s the payback on it.” 

Lem acknowledges that today’s digital world is one of the biggest changes he has seen in his time at PG&E. “I remember my cell phone was the size of a lunch box,” he said.

“It has changed the way we run our utility business,” added Lem. “It has increased the risk because you could be hacked. However (without technology), we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing to try to prevent wildfires and outages.

“When I came to telecom in 1982, the radios in the trucks had tubes in them,” he continued. “You had to check them every year to make sure they were working."

“Lem has a great deal of knowledge,” said Richard Newzell Jr., Lem’s supervisor for the last six years. “He’s an active contributor to the daily work assigned to the team and always willing to help the new coworkers. If he retired, I’d be happy for him but sad for the team.”

‘I Just Keep Working’ 

Lem has looked into retirement. But for various reasons, he hasn’t made the move.

“I just keep working,” said Lem. “I’m surprised I’ve been here for 55 years. It’s a long time. I don’t dread coming to work. PG&E is my community. Once I retire, I don’t know what I’m going to do, to tell you the truth. ... I think working for me is healthy in a sense.”

About that 55-year anniversary gift? Lem said he’s leaning toward a portable generator. A fitting choice for someone who has been proudly helping to power PG&E’s progress.