"That involved everything from radios, communications, metering, load control, cable fault location, substation testing...all the technical stuff that went on. I pretty much stayed with that and today I'm still deeply involved in the load control side of the business and do a lot of work with metering."
The electricity reforms of the late 1990s saw great change.
"Under Whanganui Rangitikei we had a staff of 200 and as the reforms became more likely we changed our name to Powerco. We were eventually merged with Taranaki Energy and they retained the name Powerco. I guess I am one of few 'originals' left."
Extreme weather events were what electricity distributors feared most and Robert's "patch" has copped its fair share over the years. He has been Powerco's liaison man with Whanganui Civil Defence for the past 18 years but it was a "salt storm" back in the 80s he remembers most.
"Salt-laden gales off the sea coated our insulators and we lost lines and feeders. Power was out to the city and surrounding districts and it took us two days get it fully restored. That included using the Whanganui Fire Brigade to hose the salt from every insulator and retrieving the line feeding the Taupo Quay substation out of the river and putting it back up."
The 2014 floods hammered the Whanganui CBD and earlier floods at Turakina and Waitotara caused major network damage.
There has only been one work break in Robert's 50-year career when he took leave of absence in 1979 to undertake product evaluation and training with metering equipment firm, Ferranti Measurement in Manchester, UK.
"It was originally for six months but I ended up staying for two years and it was probably where I developed a lot more interest in the technical side of metering and fault locating."
He is now imparting that knowledge to aspiring electricity apprentices. Each Monday he tutors classes of up to 13 apprentices on basic electrical theory and mathematics.
"These are exciting times in the electricity industry but I impress upon them everything still reverts back to the basics volts, amps and ohms. Once you get that right the job is fairly simple."
He gets a sense of satisfaction assisting the apprentices who mostly end up employed with local electricians.
Robert's other passion is not far removed from the world of electricity. Five years ago he was approached by the Whanganui District Council to be one of two trustees on the Tramways Wanganui Trust. The organisation had basically stalled and the trustees' main task was to get an overhead electric line up so the tram could run again.
"We did that, albeit for only 150m. But we'd only just got it going and the 2014 flood severely dented all our hard work. The river went through our tram shed and left a sea of silt to clear."
The rejuvenated trust knuckled down, cleared the site and got the tram back on the rails. The restored tram is a popular attraction for locals and tourists alike during its four-hour outings each Sunday.
"We would like to extend the tracks in to the CBD and stage one of our plans takes us to the courthouse, Moutoa Gardens area. We'd like to see that completed over the next five years."
Further development in to the heart of the city is in the long term plan.
"None of the work is going to be cheap and we have to prepare a business case to support the development."
There's also the prospect of resurrecting a second tram at present languishing in Kapiti.
"I'm going to suggest we use local trade trainees to do the restoration work. This could see electrical apprentices looking at the wiring, engineering trainees doing their bit and carpentry looking after the framework. It's just an idea."
Powerco marked Robert's contribution to the electricity industry with a special function in Whanganui this week.