AMERICAN POWER DISPATCHERS ASSOCIATION


Our History











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In the fall of 1940, Jesse (Red) Paschall, a dispatcher located in Portland Oregon, for the Portland General Electric Company, conceived the bright idea that a Dispatcher's Association would be advantageous, serve a useful purpose, and promote good fellowship.

In the early days, tie-line interconnections between neighboring electric utility systems were a rarity and a Power Dispatcher or System Operator Office was strictly a local function. The dispatchers who would be interested in such an effort were employees of various local organizations engaged in public service in the Portland area, i.e., two electric utilities, telephone company, gas company, two airlines, police department, county sheriff, telegraph company, railroad and street railway.

The idea was well accepted by both the Dispatchers of these various organizations and their immediate management representatives. To carry forward the embryo idea, a dinner meeting was held at a leading Portland hotel attended by fifty men. A congenial social evening was spent getting well acquainted. It was the unanimous consensus that a permanent organization should be established and regular meetings should be scheduled. Thus, the "Pacific Northwest Dispatcher's Association" became a living entity on April 15,1941.

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