Of all the things Chuck Hance has heard new employees say on their first day with the company, “It’s snowing -- inside” might be the most memorable.
A gentle laughter accompanies the story Hance, manager of Industrial/Site Relations in Project Engineering, tells from January 1982. While traversing Cane Run Generating Station, his newest employee stumbled upon a peculiar site: the condensation inside the plant becoming snow before their eyes.
Chuck Hance's employee ID from 1976.
“It only happened very occasionally,” said Hance, who worked at Cane Run from 1972-1997. When it was particularly cold out, he explained, temperatures would drop as low as 25 degrees inside. The heat from the boilers wasn’t meant for keeping inside the plant warm.
Hance’s relationships with his colleagues and staff account for many memories he laughs about today. The time he put a colleague’s milestone birthday banner in view of plant employees and out of reach to easily take down, or the gentle ribbing he took from his first supervisor as the two forged a working relationship.
“The people I’ve met and the people I’ve brought into the company who have made careers here are what stays with me, what I’m most proud of,” he said. “I like seeing good talent and good people in the company and knowing that it will be in good hands when I retire.”
Chuck Hance -- who celebrates his 50th service anniversary today -- shared his ladder safety story last year.
Winds of change -- in secure hands
In early 1972, young Hance knew he needed a job with security that would
help him take care of his family, and a friend who worked for LG&E suggested he apply. While he waited in person to turn in an application, a woman named Pat Workman walked by.
“She recognized me because I’d been her paperboy for four years,” recalled Hance. “It really is a small world. She told me to wait there while she brought someone to talk to me.”
That conversation led to a job offer, and Hance began work at Cane Run on Feb. 22, remaining at the plant for 25 years -- half his time with the company. Back then, there was no parent company, and the merger with KU was decades away.
“A number of years ago, someone made a prediction: all small, locally owned utility companies would be absorbed by larger ones,” he said. And as Hance has watched it unfold firsthand, he’s been reassured that, what has mattered most, is that the company remains one that cares about its people and community -- and offers job security and growth.
Next stop: retirement
“I told my wife I’d retire before I turned 70, but I’m missing it,” he said. Hance turns 70 on April 28, and his last day of work will be April 29 before officially retiring May 1.
Retirement doesn’t come easy for someone who has spent 50 years in one place -- and it doesn’t come easy to the ones who must bid him farewell. “Several people tell me I can’t retire,” he admitted. “’Who will we go to with our questions?’ they ask.”
His vast experiences and unusually good memory make him an encyclopedia of company knowledge; everyone knows he’s likely to have an answer, whether it’s about how a particular policy evolved or about the history of Cane Run.
Hance also is thrilled to spend more time with his three kids, nine grandkids and two great-grandchildren. First up will be summertime trips to the zoo with his youngest granddaughter, age 10. Hance says she’s a smartie with her eyes set on becoming a veterinarian one day; he thinks he’s going to learn a lot from her. And learning is something he’s definitely not ready to stop doing.
