Huron TSM employee intrigued by electricity since childhood

Adam Malsom, Basin Electric lead substation electrician, has always been fascinated by electricity. “I don’t want to say I ‘played’ with electricity when I was a kid, but I definitely was intrigued with it and how it works,” he says.

Malsom is one of six people that make up the Huron, South Dakota, Transmission System Maintenance (TSM) outpost. He, along with two other electricians, two system protection technicians, and a telecommunications technician work to maintain substations and communication sites that cover about 18,000 square miles of service territory in eastern South Dakota.

Malsom grew up on a family farm in Ipswich, South Dakota. After graduating high school, he attended North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton where he earned an associate’s degree in electronic servicing. His first job out of college was doing service work on sound, telephone, and intercom systems at a business in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then worked at a disc drive manufacturing facility, working on robotics as the technology and equipment evolved over time.

Malsom began working for Basin Electric in 2010. “The power industry has always interested me, and it is really nice to be able to work outside, not locked in a building every day,” he says. “I really enjoy it.”

Traveling is a big part of Malsom’s job, and he says that he easily drives 30,000 miles per year going to all of the substations he and his crew serve.

Read more about what Malsom and his crew do every day and what he likes best about his job in A day in the life of lead substation electrician Adam Malsom in the fall issue of Basin Today.