Top Energy lines team best in country for second year running

The Top Energy line mechanic team that won top spot in the annual Connexis Awards for the second year running (from left) – Karl Wilson (team manager), Simon Bayliss (team foreman), Lance Kahotea, Michael Kava and Michael Mitchell (trainee)

Winning a national power skills competition as virtual novices was an outstanding achievement last year for a team of Northland electricity line mechanics.

But winning the national Connexis Awards for a second year running this month is unprecedented for the Top Energy line mechanic team.

The team – Karl Wilson (team manager), Simon Bayliss (team foreman), Lance Kahotea, Michael Kava and Michael Mitchell (trainee) – were mostly novices when they won the award in Te Awamutu last October, and their victory was a total surprise.

But going into this year’s contest – which is a test of their abilities to carry out the work that keep the lights on and the country connected – as defending champions, the team had a target on their backs.

Again though, after this year’s contest in Christchurch’s Canterbury Agricultural Park, the same team came out on top of the country again.

The win was even more remarkable as they had a lot of competition this year, with a record 16 teams competing.

And their skills have been put to a good test as the same line mechanics have been out in the weather in Northland with the rest of the Top Energy team over the past few days to keep the local communities connected in the wild weather.

On their way to the overall win at the Connexis Awards, the Top Energy team won the Busck Pole Installation, the Wagner Pole Installation and the Underground Cable Install. The team also won the Dougie Award for best team spirit and team leader Bayliss won the Connexis Leadership Award.

The awards are a three-day competition between teams with several events occurring each day. They had to install power poles, run wires and generally attend to all the electrical elements that they might do in a day, the fundamentals that keep the lights on and the country connected.

There were time constraints, and each section was scored out of 500 with points lost for any mistakes.

For more info go to civilcontractors.co.nz/connexis-civil-training-and-development-awards.