Keeping the Lights On:
PREFORMED LINE PRODUCTS
Story by Chris Miller | Photos by Marty Bowers
T
here are millions of power
distribution lines around the
country that play a critical role in
transmitting electrical energy across large
distances. This helps connect Americans
and provides them with electrical power.
Much of what is found on the power lines,
aside from the actual cables, comes from
a global company that has a presence in
Stanly County.
Preformed Line Products plays a role
in helping to make sure the country’s
electrical grid is up and operating. The
company, which began in 1947 and is
headquartered in Cleveland, has around
22 manufacturing sites around the world
including the one in Albemarle. PLP is
a worldwide designer, manufacturer and
supplier of preformed hardware, including
high quality
cable anchoring.
The Albemarle site, off N.C. Highway
24-27 behind Lowe’s Home Improvement,
is about 286,000 square feet on 25 acres.
It employs about 220 workers. The site was
built in 1980 and started operations with
PLP a year later.
The site specifically produces Guy-Grip
dead-ends which anchors utility poles all
over the world. Other products include
distribution ties, which attach insulators
with conductors on power lines, cable
splices and several wildlife protection
products (bird-flight diverters, raptor
protectors, squirrel deterrent systems)
that aid in reducing animal mortalities
from interaction with power distribution
lines. PLP in Albemarle has thousands of
product offerings and it produces millions
of products each year.
“The primary function of the products
are to secure and stabilize conductors,”
plant manager John Ziebarth said.
Originally from California, Ziebarth
has worked at the plant since 1994.
In the simplest of terms, the site
produces preformed, high tensile strength
wires that can be shaped into a wide
array of specifications as demanded from
utility companies around the country and
the world. The products are attached to
fiber or copper cables and insulators and
conductors.
“We don’t make the cables, we just
make all the attachment devices,”
Ziebarth said.
PLP, which is the predominant supplier
of preformed hardware, ships the majority
of its products in the United States,
but also has global customers, serving
more than 140 customers, according to
its website. At the time of the interview
with Ziebarth in January 2020, PLP was
shipping several products to England,
Austria and Peru.
Shipping clerk Shannon Swaringen
John Oliver inspecting
freshly machined parts.
said PLP ships products to Canada and
Mexico each week. Other countries include
Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Saudi
Arabia and many of the Caribbean islands.
“I’m always curious where the products
end up and where they get used,”
Swaringen said.
We’re certified to ship anywhere we
need to be all over the world,” Ziebarth
said, adding the company works with the
International Air Transit Association.
PLP works with more than 3,000 utility
companies in the United States. Some
are big companies, such as Duke Energy,
while others are smaller, like the City
of Albemarle, which has its own electric
power system.
Made in Stanly Magazine | 2020
9