by Josh P. Crotzer
For a guy who has spent his entire career in the no-nonsense world of electric distribution operations, Cary Johnson certainly has a knack for creating brands.
Throughout his 39-year co-op career, Broad River Electric’s chief operating officer has filled colleagues’ closets—at his own expense—with hats and hoodies that feature various co-op themed mottos and iconography. Johnson is also known for his creative nicknaming. Lineman Daniel Sams had not finished his first day on the job before Johnson had tagged him as “Costco,” an ironic nod to the rival big-box retailer.
It’s all been part of establishing a culture rooted in the co-op’s mission of service and the lineworkers’ ethic of sacrifice.
“This ain’t a job. It’s a lifestyle,” says Johnson, who will retire from the co-op this year. “You’ve got to have buy-in.”
Johnson has been buying in ever since his career began as a meter reader in 1987. That summer, he married Loretta (“Worm”). There was only time for a quick weekend honeymoon, because he couldn’t “let the meters get behind.”
In a job that rewards self-discipline, the Campobello native thrived. He ran his cycles early and worked ahead of bad weather. By Friday afternoons, his supervisors had to find other things for him to do. At the time, Johnson knew he could make more money in construction—and so did his supervisors, who worked out a plan to keep his talents at the co-op. Eventually they promoted Johnson to service technician for the Spartanburg district, with a dollar per hour raise and the keys to a service truck.
“They had a plan,” Johnson says. “And they never let me in on it. But I learned not to chase the money.”
For the past four decades, it’s been Johnson’s turn to be the mentor. Jeff Humphries (“Pugs”), Broad River Electric’s vice president of economic development and revenue management, started at the co-op in 1994 working under Johnson. It didn’t take long for Humphries to see beyond Johnson’s big personality.
“Don’t let Cary fool you,” says Humphries, who is now one of Johnson’s closest friends. “He could have probably been one of the best engineers to ever serve the co-op. But he knows how to boil the technical knowledge down so that you can understand.
Having also served as supervisor of right-of-way and line superintendent, Johnson’s fingerprints are also all over the system he’s leaving behind. He pushed for wildlife guards on equipment, which help prevent outages caused by critters such as squirrels, and championed a more aggressive right-of-way plan that helped the co-op complete system-wide trimming in half the time. Over the last two decades, Broad River Electric’s reliability numbers have been in the top tier in the state, while the number of meters served has grown from 11,000 when Johnson began to more than 20,000 today.
“I’m proud the power stays on,” says Johnson. “We didn’t always have that reputation, and I know that’s changed.”
So, for the man who nicknames everyone else, what’s Cary’s handle? To most, he’s Big Cary. But for the last few years, he’s been Big Poppy to granddaughters Ensley Grace (“EG”) and Emmy (“Emmy Lou Who”), who are in the process of transitioning his home workshop into their play area.
“He’s missed his share of birthday parties and family functions because that’s part of the game,” says Humphries. “But I’ve seen it personally. He is a great family man.”