A CPS Energy lineman died on a job site early Tuesday morning after being electrocuted by a power line he was working on. His death is the first on-the-job fatality the public utility has experienced since 2013.
Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the CPS worker was 32-year-old Clayton Kloesel. He had been working to repair a power line following storm-caused outages in the 8400 block of Percheron Pass, near Culebra and Tally roads, when there was a sudden power surge while Kloesel was up the utility pole, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they began performing life-saving measures on Kloesel, however he died on the scene around 5:30 a.m., BCSO said in an emailed statement.
At this time the investigation remains ongoing, the sheriff’s office said. CPS Energy confirmed the death via an emailed statement to the San Antonio Report but declined to answer follow-up questions.
“We are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with our teammate’s family, their loved ones and our CPS Energy family,” the utility stated.
Kloesel is the first CPS Energy line worker to die on the job since 54-year-old Hector Castro Jr. died from injuries he sustained during a training exercise in 2013.
Kloesel had just competed in the Texas Lineman 2024 Rodeo this past weekend, according to photos from his Facebook where he can be seen smiling in a teal fishing shirt with his fellow CPS Energy linemen while holding a first-place trophy.
According to a GoFundMe page started by friends of Kloesel’s, he leaves behind a wife, Elizabeth Kloesel, and their three young children, Hayden, Grayson and Chance. Money raised by the GoFundMe will go towards funeral expenses, cost of living expenses for his family, debt and financial obligations left behind, and “Paying off Clay’s boat so his father can continue to take his children fishing, preserving a cherished family tradition.”
“Clay was a man of immense kindness and love,” the GoFundMe states. “He had a sailor’s mouth but an even bigger heart. His sense of humor and warmth touched everyone he met, and his love for his family was evident to all who knew him.”
The workers’ union representing CPS Energy electrical workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 500, issued a statement Tuesday on Facebook regarding the incident.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our beloved Brother,” it states. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and all those who knew and worked alongside him.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electrical power-line installers and repairers have a fatality rate of 20.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. This makes lineman jobs one of the most dangerous in the country, second only to loggers and manual laborers in agriculture. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, 110 electrical workers were involved in fatalities in 2022 due to overhead power line contact.
A study by the foundation found there was a total of 1,201 workplace fatalities involving electricity reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and 1,653 electrical fatalities reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
