About — Alder Electric, Spokane, WA (Demonstration)

Ray Alder, the fictional owner and master electrician, standing by his van under ponderosa pines

The Owner

Ray Alder reads code books for fun

Ray spent eleven years wiring hospitals and data centers — places where a sloppy connection isn’t a callback, it’s a headline. When he and Carrie moved home to Spokane in 2012, he brought commercial discipline to residential work: torque specs, labeled panels, photo documentation, permits every time.

The name? Alder is the tree that grows straight in wet ground. Ray says that’s the whole business plan: straight work in conditions that encourage shortcuts.

The Record

How the shop was built

2012
Ray and Carrie Alder start the company out of their garage on North Market — one van, one license, one rule about torque specs.
2015
First apprentice hired. The close-out photo email starts as a habit and becomes the signature.
2019
Second van. Dana Whitfield joins as journeyman after a decade in commercial work.
2021
The windstorm year. Three weeks of no-power calls convince Ray to make 24/7 emergency response permanent.
Today
Four people, two vans, five years of inspections passed without a correction notice.

House Rules

Three things we don’t negotiate

Torque specs are law

Most electrical fires start at a loose connection. Every lug gets the manufacturer’s number and a dab of torque seal to prove it.

The permit is the point

Permits aren’t red tape — they’re your proof at resale and your insurance company’s yes. If a job needs one, we pull it. No exceptions, no “handyman special.”

Explain it like it’s your panel

You get the why, not just the invoice. If you want the twenty-minute version with the code book open, Ray will beam.

The Crew

Who shows up

Ray AlderOwner · Master Electrician

Founder. Quotes every panel job himself and still takes the gnarliest troubleshooting calls.
Dana WhitfieldJourneyman Electrician

Ten years of commercial work before joining in 2019. Runs the second van and most EV and lighting installs.
Marcus LeeApprentice · Year 3

Halfway to his journeyman card. Labels panels neater than either of his bosses.
Carrie AlderOffice · Co-owner

The voice on the phone since 2012. Runs the schedule, the permits, and the close-out emails.

The Warranty

Lifetime workmanship, in writing

If a connection we made ever fails, we fix it free — not for a year, not for five, for as long as you own the house. We can offer that because of everything on the checklist: work you torque, label, photograph, and inspect doesn’t come back to haunt you.

It’s printed on every close-out email, right under the photos.

See the field reports

An Alder Electric van parked on a pine-lined Spokane street

Small crew. Tight tolerances.