Flick a switch and the lights go on.
Power is so reliable in North Otago that Network Waitaki and its long-serving, outgoing chief executive Graham Clark have flown under the radar over the years.
But those who know Mr Clark call him generous and soft-spoken — a consummate gentleman.
"I think that’s what most people want, is to know when they turn the switch on, the power is there, and it’s safe," Mr Clark says.
"Yes, price is a concern, but I don’t think it’s the biggest concern of consumers. It’s the availability of electricity — it’s number one, because we’re all so reliant on it.
"I think Network Waitaki is probably a company that has kept below the radar a little bit in the community: we get on and we do our jobs. I’d like to think the customers have been served well, therefore they haven’t had concerns about our service delivery, and therefore we haven’t developed a high profile either positively or negatively — we’ve just got on and done the job."
He started out with the company in 1976 maintaining the general ledger and doing payroll and he worked his way up — for the past 16 years Mr Clark has held the top job.
He says there have been peaks and troughs along the way. But after a five-week holiday in Europe this year, the 67-year-old decided to call time on his 42 years with Network Waitaki.
He is ready for a little bit more family time, more time at his holiday home in Wanaka; he is ready for a bit of local travelling, and perhaps some time working on his golf game.
"I enjoy fishing, I enjoy the outdoors, I enjoy cycling, gardening," he says.
He will spend more time with his wife, Susan, their six grandchildren in New Zealand, and he will see his three children: Jacqueline, in Oamaru; Barrie, in Christchurch; and Elizabeth, in Newcastle, Australia.
"That’s probably the scary thing ... how I’m going to fill my time," he says.
"Getting up and coming to work, I knew what I was going to do each day. And it hasn’t been a chore.
"This was not an easy decision. The easy thing would have been to just keep going. And I’m not sure that would have been the right decision."
There are some "great projects" coming up over the next year or two, and though it was tempting to stay around and be part of them, "you’ve got to leave something for the next guy to do".
"I just think it’s time for a change."
Mr Clark will stay on until he is replaced, which is likely not until March.
He has watched the electricity distribution company transition from a winter peak network, when residential demand for power in homes pushed up energy use, to a network that peaks in the summer when the district’s large-scale irrigation companies draw power.
The "new drive", or new ideas of his replacement will help to find solutions for that increased demand on energy supply — even as the supply of energy to North Otago from the national grid is constrained — and solutions for maintaining some of the company’s ageing assets built in the 1970s or ’80s.
The amount of effort that comes with increases in compliance and regulatory disclosures stands out as a challenge over the years.
And Mr Clark recalls the trough or the "turbulent time" that began in 2000, when Network Waitaki and Alpine Energy set up a joint management company, Network South.
He says he was "fortunate enough" to be a part of the company that was administered from Timaru, but with staff relocations the period was stressful for some.
After a couple of years, he was asked to come back as the sole employee of Network Waitaki to return to Oamaru and work with the board before administration and engineering was returned to Oamaru in December, 2005.
"You take these situations as learning opportunities, how things should or shouldn’t be done," he says.
"I suppose I might be a little more accepting of change, because I think we live in a time of change ... if we don’t accept change, we’ve got a problem."
And the North Otago Irrigation Scheme going live in 2006 was a highlight for the Oamaru born-and-bred former Waitaki Boys’ High School pupil.
The growth in the district, the "quiet way" the company has supported that growth, had been fulfilling.
"I’ve seen the droughts that we had many, many years ago and the impact that had on the community, quite negative, it’s good to see positive things happening," he says.
"Yeah, I’m local.
"I’m one of 65 people, I lead a team, and it’s not what I’ve done, what we’ve done with the support of directors and trustees."
