NAHUNTA — Okefenoke REMC has announced Kane Lee has been promoted to Manager of Engineering succeeding Darren Crews, who was recently named OREMC’s Assistant General Manager.
“I am excited for Kane as he steps up to lead Okefenoke’s engineering team into the future,” said Crews. “With his promotion, Kane brings engineering experience, institutional knowledge and a dedication to provide the most reliable electric service possible, all of which are a tremendous asset to Okefenoke and our members.”
Lee has officially worked as an electrical engineer at OREMC for 11 years — hired in 2015 as a System Engineer. He then became the Reliability Engineer leading workplan development and designing protection and control schemes.
However, his first experience at OREMC began when he was in high school.
“I was infatuated with electricity as a young child,” Lee explains. “My dad was a lineman for Georgia Power. I grew up wanting to understand what my dad was doing and how electricity worked. I’ve always wanted to be an electrical engineer.”
He got his first real taste of utility work as a junior in high school when he came to work at OREMC through the workbased learning program.
“I worked in the warehouse and with Darren,” Lee recalled. “He would take me out with the apparatus guys to work on substation maintenance. Mind you, I was the gopher getting the parts and tools the technicians needed to complete their work.”
It was that work during his junior and senior years of high school which instilled in him that keeping the lights on is not a one person show, and how rewarding it is to serve the community. Following his passion, he went to Georgia Southern to earn his degree in Electrical Engineering. During his second year of college, he worked full-time at OREMC with the apparatus team.
After graduation, Lee formally launched his career at Georgia Power as a Test Engineer testing and verifying breaker verification schemes.
“My job was to make sure everything in the substation was working correctly,” he said.
Lee continued to build on that experience when he happily returned to work at OREMC five years later.
“Getting and keeping the lights on is our focus,” Lee insists. “We are driven by that mission — safety is always the priority — but from top to bottom we value our members.”
Adding to the work environment is the culture of OREMC.
“It feels more like a family,” Lee explained. “We truly care about one another and are our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.”
All of those things combined is what has prepared Lee for his next role as Manager of Engineering.
Looking ahead, he says work plan execution will be a bigger focus, as well as where and how OREMC invests in infrastructure, given the increasing demand for electricity locally and nationally.
As far as what that means for OREMC and the utility industry in the future, Lee postulates, “Our industry and member needs are continually evolving, but I love solving challenges and figuring out how to make things work,” Lee referenced about OREMC and the utility industry in the future. “I enjoy what I do and working with people I grew up with who have the same interests as me.”
When he is not actively working to power the community, Lee relishes time spent with his best friend and wife, Grace, and their three children, six-year-old Alora, fouryear- old Ruth and twoyear-old Samson.
As a family they love spending time outdoors simply playing or fourwheeling. Lee also enjoys time with his church family at Bridge Church in Blackshear, where he is also a Deacon.
