• Employee News
• Member Profiles
• ND Living Features
• Operation Roundup

Making his way home

His hometown of Wilton hasn’t changed much

Harnessed safely inside a Dueco bucket truck, Berg practices changing out bells during the June rubber gloving school.

Capital Electric Cooperative gave Berg the opportunity in October 2007, when Gordy Wiese offered Him a lineworker position In Wing. Berg replaced Perry Ptacek, who resigned last June to move closer to family. He accepted a job at FEM Electric Cooperative in Ipswich.

It took Berg a long time to make the journey back home. After high school, he moved to Colorado and worked as a mechanic. He heard there was a shortage of lineworkers, so he eventually took a merchant course in Nebraska and was offered a job with Dawson Public Power. Almost everything he knows, he says he learned while on the job.

He moved a giant step closer to family and friends when he accepted a job with Cass County Electric Cooperative a few years ago. Even though he appreciated his time with the Fargo coop, he contacted Wiese and maintained a connection over the years. When the position opened in Wing, the operations supervisor agreed to bring Berg home.

Berg now works with Lineworker Trent Stein. Together, they fix outages, maintain lines and poles, and help the Bismarck crews when necessary. Berg says they spend a lot of time driving the co-op’s rural service area and looking for plant that is in need of maintenance. The best part—Berg knows all the people in the area. He says visiting with residents in the rural communities is one of the best parts of his job.

Berg says he hopes to make Wing a permanent home until he retires, along with his wife, Athena. She works as a licensed practical nurse at Mid Dakota Clinic in Bismarck.

When he’s not out driving the countryside, Berg stays busy farming and ranching with his dad, Don. A diehard Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, Berg also enjoys watching NASCAR races and spending time at the lake, boating and camping.