Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern United States just two weeks before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida. For this special episode of the Line Life Podcast, listen to lineworkers and field managers for Duke Energy talk about the storm response in the Carolinas from working with helicopters to bringing in a mobile substation and providing power to a VA hospital. 

For more information about the storm response to both hurricanes, stay tuned to T&D World's website, which features a photo gallery from the Hurricane Helene restoration and storm updates.

Lineworkers, if you want to be part of a future Line Life Podcast episode about the hurricane response, email us at linelifepodcast@gmail.com. You can also fill out this form to enter to win a new Storm Jaw from Huskie Tools, the sponsor of the Line Life Podcast. Pick up your Huskie Heroes T-shirt in Booth #617 at the International Lineman's Expo and make sure you stop by the T&D World Booth #73. We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo Week. Stay safe out there!

Tree crews often work alongside lineworkers, especially during storm response, when arborists clear the roads ahead of line crews. For a special episode of the T&D World Line Life Podcast, we are highlighting guest Dennis Fallon, executive director of the Utility Arborist Association (UAA). The UAA partners with T&D World on the annual Vegetation Management supplement. 

Field Editor Amy Fischbach interviewed Dennis during the Trees & Utilities conference in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, for the 25th anniversary of the event. The conference, which is presented by the UAA and the Arbor Day Foundation, brings together utility vegetation management (UVM) professionals from across the country for three days of networking and education. 

For more information, check out the photo gallery from the event or visit the website. 

Our Faces of the Future podcast series continues with Melissa Dawe, an apprentice lineworker for Connect Atlantic Utility Services in Canada. She first discovered the trade as a traffic controller when she saw the Nova Scotia Power line crews in action. After enrolling in a Utility Line Work Construction and Maintenance course at a community college, she joined her local union and pursued a career in the trade.

As a fourth-year apprentice, she is now looking forward to earning her journeyman ticket and inspiring the next generation of women lineworkers.

To learn more about Melissa, check out her profile in T&D World magazine as part of our Faces of the Future department or look for the article, "Lighting the Way for the Line Trade" in our September 2024 Lineworker Supplement.

The May 2024 cover story of T&D World, "The Winds of Change for St. Lucia's Electric Grid," is now an audio story in our In Case You Missed It series for the Line Life podcast. In the article, Randall Wood and Mike Allison of Power Engineers, Inc. describe the major hurricanes that have hit the region in the past and then share how St. Lucia Electricity Services Ltd. (LUCELEC) is focusing on grid resiliency and reliability when faced with bigger and stronger storms. Click here to read the article online. 

For Part 3 of our Faces of the Future series for the T&D World Line Life Podcast, we are shining the spotlight on Joshua Hohenberg, apprentice lineworker at Evergy. He started out his career as a superintendent carpenter before launching his career in the line trade on the contractor side. He then  walked on for a Boot Camp at Evergy to get his foot in the door. During this episode, he shares the story about restoring power following a tornado, when roofs were ripped off from homes. He also talks about the day in his life as an apprentice for Evergy and how he's learning how to be safe and productive in the field. 

For this episode in our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast, we are featuring the story, "A Slice of Life in the Florida Keys," which was originally published in the May 2024 Electric Utility Operations section of T&D World magazine. The story was written by Arborist Jason Richards, who oversees the vegetation management program for Florida Keys Electric Cooperative (FKEC). 

In the story, Richards shares how FKEC connects with the local community on vegetation management. To learn more about vegetation management, check out T&D World's Vegetation Management Supplement, which is published in partnership with the Utility Arborist Association (UAA).

Part 2 of our Faces of the Future series for the Line Life Podcast takes us to western Kansas, where Theron Tucker is a fourth-year apprentice about to top out as a journeyman at Midwest Energy. Tucker, who competed at the International Lineman's Rodeo for the first time in 2023, was the PLP's Armor Rod Install Challenge champion at the 2023 International Lineman's Expo.

After graduating from Northwest Lineman College, he landed a job at his utility close to his hometown. During this episode, he talks about how his experience growing up on a ranch and operating farm equipment helped him in his career in the line trade.

To learn more about Theron, check out his profile, which appeared in T&D World magazine in our new Faces of the Future department. If you have an apprentice you would like to nominate for this department, email amyfischbach@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. 

In May 2024, T&D World not only included articles about wildfire mitigation in the annual Wildfire Supplement, but also in the print issue of the magazine. For this In Case You Missed It episode on the Line LIfe Podcast platform, we are featuring an audio version of the article, "Cutting Wildfire Risk."

In this story, Thuan Tran, Jesse Rorabaugh and Andrew Swisher of Southern California Edison (SCE) share how their utility is taking a multi-layered approach to effectively mitigating the wildfire challenge. For example, SCE is driving down the wildfire threat by hardening the grid to avoid or prevent faults that can result in potential ignitions.

Learn more by listening to the narrated version of this story on Podbean or reading the article on the T&D World website. 

To honor the up-and-coming lineworkers in the line trade, we launched a new department called Faces of the Future in T&D World magazine. Through this new podcast series, you can now hear the voices of these apprentices, who talk about their inspiration for working in the trade and their experiences learning on the job. 

The first up is Zackery Gough, a fourth-year apprentice for Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Texas. Zack won the apprentice division not once, but twice, at the International Lineman's Rodeo, and he's eligible to compete in the division once again this October. He talks about training at Northwest Lineman College, working in the intense Texas summer heat and working out in the field to keep the lights on for his community. 

To learn more about Zack, you can read his online profile, which appeared in T&D World magazine. 

For our latest episode in our In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) series for our Line Life Podcast on Podbean,  we are showcasing a narrated version of T&D World's April 2024 cover story, "LUMA Embarks on Island-Wide Work Plan."

This article explores how LUMA Energy is aiming to boost reliability and resiliency by focusing on vegetation clearing, automation and substation modernization in Puerto Rico. 

For more information, you can listen to a recent two-part series on our Line Life Podcast on Podbean featuring Dr. Shay Bahamirad, senior vice president T&D Strategy and Sustainability for LUMA Energy.

Part 1: LUMA's Power Grid Transformation in Puerto Rico Part 2: LUMA's Island-Wide Work Plan in Puerto Rico

We also published the article, "Powering Puerto Rico," in our 2023 Lineworker Supplement, and it is available as an audio story in our ICYMI series. 

Bruce Thompson, a retired journeyman lineworker, has worked for Southern California Edison and line contractors nationwide. After serving as a line foreman and training crew foreman, he invented a new product called the Step-Up to help fellow lineworkers to get in proper positioning when working on poles. 

During this episode, he shares his story about going to work with his dad, a lineworker, in Florida; working across the country in the line trade; training the next generation of lineworkers; and inventing a product to help lineworkers to improve safety and efficiency in the field. 

For this audio story in our ICYMI series for T&D World's Line Life Podcast, we are featuring the February 2024 cover story, "Line Monitoring, New York Style." The story, which was written by Alan Ettlinger, senior director of research, technology development and innovation at New York Power Authority (NYPA), describes how the utility is using fiber-optic sensing, based on the principles of distributed acoustic sensing, to identify power line conditions in real time. Click here to read the article on T&D World's website. 

The International Lineman's Museum started in 1996 in Shelby, North Carolina, in a display case at American Safety Corporation. Over the years, as the collection of historic photos, tools and signs grew, the exhibits moved upstairs into a 2,000-sq-ft space. In mid-2025, the museum, Lineman's Hall of Fame and FLO's memorial statue will have a new home in Leesburg, Florida. To hear Andy Price, the museum's founder, share his story about the collection and what to expect at the new location, listen to this episode and visit the website. 

For Part 1 of our new Problem Solvers series for the Line Life Podcast, we are highlighting Tim Barat, who worked as a sparky (electrician) before training to become a liney (lineworker) in Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.

While working in the line trade in 2009, Tim experienced Black Saturday, a day he will never forget. Wildfires took the lives of 173 people, injured 414, burned half a million acres, consumed 3,500 buildings and killed more than 1 million animals.

The wildfires impacted him personally and professionally and changed the course of his career. He moved from Australia to California, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California-Berkeley.

Tim and two other UC Berkeley alumni, Hall Chen and Abdulrahman Bin Omar, then invented Gridscope. Lineworkers install the device on transmission and distribution poles to provide continuous real-time asset monitoring even during outages. After securing a patent, the team founded the company, Gridware.

Listen to this episode to learn how Tim built his own electrical grid in California to test the technology and how he and his team took the product from a concept to reality. 

In the aftermath of a fatal tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, Mayfield Electric & Water Systems navigated devastation and outages. By listening to this narrated version of an article, which is part of T&D World's In Case You Missed It series, General Superintendent Marty T. Ivy shares how his utility was able to swiftly respond after a tornado with wind speeds reaching up to 190 miles per hour demolished nearly 500 homes, killed 22 people and knocked out power to most residents. To read the online story, published in the March 2024 field-focused Electric Utility Operations section of T&D World magazine, click here. 

Jason Mendoza, a journeyman lineworker for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), served in the military before pursuing a career in the line trade. After working for utilities in the Midwest, he and his family moved to California, where he is now on a transmission crew at SDG&E. Listen to this episode to hear his stories of working from a helicopter and undergoing barehand training at his utility.

At Salt River Project, the transmission group strives to work smarter, not harder. After identifying tasks in pole maintenance and construction with room for improvement, JD Newham, transmission group supervisor for SRP, worked with LineWise, a product development company, to invent specialized tools to help the line crews improve productivity and safety. Read the full story published in the Electric Utility Operations section of T&D World magazine here. 

Milton Draper, a journeyman lineworker and foreman for Ameren Illinois, married into a family of lineworkers. After working in the construction industry, he has worked in the line trade for the last 15 years, and he currently runs a three-member crew with two apprentices. He also divides his time between his work in the field and mentoring the next generation of lineworkers at the training center. In addition to being a lineworker, he has also been married for 15 years and is the father of two children: Preston (9) and Vivienne (6). His son, Preston, is also featured on this episode of the Line Life Podcast. 

In this ICYMI episode, three top journeyman teams share their tips, techniques and memories from years of competition at the International Lineman's Rodeo. The event, which will mark its 40th anniversary in 2024, gives lineworkers and their families the opportunity to come together to celebrate the line trade. Listen to this Line Life Podcast episode to learn more about:

• Two-Time Champs: the Southern California team of Ramon Garcia, Jacob Lybbert and Wil Robinson
• Florida Trio: the JEA team of Robert Hess, Michael Corbitt and Brian Gregg
• Carolina Competitors: the Duke Energy team of Sandy Barnhill, Jay Tipton and Keith Griffin

For more information about the Lineman's Rodeo, check out the website. We look forward to seeing you this October in Kansas City!

Kris Onda, a fourth-step apprentice for CORE Electric Cooperative in Conifer, Colorado, is an International Lineman's Rodeo competitor and the first lineworker in his family. During this episode, he talks about focusing on wildfire mitigation and wildlife protection and servicing his cooperative's members living on cliffs up in the mountains.

He also shares his experiences with the International Lineman's Rodeo, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024. Learn more at linemansrodeokc.com. Also check out the Spotlight on the Line Trade featuring Kris and Part 1 of our recent Lineman's Rodeo-themed episode, which highlights Kris and other competitors and supporters. 

This narrated version of the third article in the September 2023 T&D World Lineworker Supplement, "Powering Puerto Rico," explores how LUMA's lineworkers are building a next-generation electrical system to increase grid resiliency and reliability. 

The audio story is a follow-up to the two-part Line Life Podcast series featuring Dr. Shay Bahramirad, senior vice president, T&D, Strategy and Sustainability, for LUMA. It is also a precursor to a brand new article, LUMA Embarks on Island-Wide Work Plan," which will appear in the April 2024 issue of T&D World.

To read the online version of the "Powering Puerto Rico" story, visit the T&D World website. 

This Line Life Podcast episode features two special women who have made their mark on the line trade.

Susan Blaser, the lead line technician program coordinator at Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City, spent 21 years at Kansas City Power & Light (now Evergy) as a journeyman lineworker and in the training department before joining MCC 15 years ago to prepare the next generation of lineworkers for careers in the line trade.

The second interview features Corry Ruch, a power line technician for Hydro One and an International Lineman's Rodeo competitor who has been working in the field for the last 35 years. 

For this In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) episode, we are featuring the second article in the 2023 Lineworker Supplement, "Training Women on the Line."

This narrated article provides four strategies for electric utilities to attract, train and retain female lineworkers. It also gives tips for women to succeed in the line trade and reflects on the history and future of female lineworkers. 

Click here to read the full story, which appeared in T&D World's 2023 Lineworker Supplement. Also, be sure to check out the Line Life Podcast's four-part "Women on the Line" series on Podbean to learn more about the women mentioned in the narrated article including Joanne Ward, Susan Blaser, Alice Lockridge and Randi Blaser. 

With the 40th anniversary of the International Lineman's Rodeo only a few weeks away, we are airing the audio version of the story, "Cheers to 40 Years," from the September 2024 T&D World Lineworker Supplement. This story explores the history of the event and how volunteers come together each year to provide a week of fun, competition and camaraderie for the line trade. Pick up your copy of the supplement at the Expo, read the story online and stop by the T&D World Booth #73 to participate in a podcast recording. We look forward to seeing you there!

Nick Cummins, a superintendent for IB Abel, shares his story about working for two decades in the line trade and being the son of a lineworker. He and his father, David "Check Check" Cummins, traveled the country to perform line work. During these projects, Nick learned new strategies and techniques, which he is now sharing with his field crews. 

Volunteer lineworkers are bringing first-time electricity to American homeowners through the Light Up Navajo project, organized by the American Public Power Association and the National Utility Tribal Authority.

Listen to this narrated version of an article published in T&D World's 2023 Lineworker Supplement to learn how the line trade is joining forces on the humanitarian project. Lineworkers are constructing new lines on the 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah with 300,000 residents and a total of 55,000 homes. 

For Part 2 of our two-part series about LUMA, a utility in Puerto Rico, we are shining the spotlight on vegetation management, automation devices and substation work.

Dr. Shay Bahramirad, senior vice president, engineering, asset management and capital programs for LUMA, continues the discussion about the grid modernization projects. For example, the utility's field workforce is clearing right-of-ways, installing new poles and automation devices and modernizing substations damaged by the recent hurricanes. 

When severe weather strikes, lineworkers respond as part of mutual assistance programs. For the December 2023 cover story of T&D World, "Make the Most of Mutual Assistance," ComEd shares its best practices for coordinating crews and managing resources during storm restoration and using management teams as part of a utility's restoration strategy.

This episode of ICYMI on the Line Life Podcast platform features a narrated version of this story, which was written by Timothy McThenia, who has more than 36 years of experience in the utility industry. He provides managerial oversight to the ComEd management team, which won the Edison Electric Institute Emergency Response Award for its response to Hurricane Ida in 2021. 

This Line Life Podcast episode features guest Dr. Shay Bahramirad, senior vice president of engineering, asset management and capital programs at LUMA Energy, the power company responsible for electric service in Puerto Rico.

With its multiple tens of billions of dollars of investment, rebuilding the electric grid in Puerto Rico is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country and among the most ambitious power industry projects undertaken in this century, according to LUMA.

Listen to the episode to hear how LUMA is increasing resiliency and reliability through grid modernization projects including the deployment of a modern energy management system, an advanced metering infrastructure, island-wide distribution automation and new substations and transmission lines. Also, look for Part 2 of the interview series, which will air on Feb. 16, 2024. 

This In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) episode features a narrated audio version of the article, "2023 Lineman's Rodeo Roundup" from the December print issue of T&D World magazine. By listening to the episode, you can learn about some of the top winners in each division and discover more about the record-shattering event, which brings the line trade together for competition and camaraderie. 

For more Lineman's Rodeo coverage, visit www.tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations. 

Aspiring lineworkers who want to serve their country and learn the line trade at the same time can join the U.S. Army's Prime Power program through the 249th Engineer Battallion. 

By working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army soldiers can train for future careers in line work while serving as soldiers in the military. In this podcast episode, SSG Dalton Kruse, a combat engineer for the U.S. Army, dives into the two options: Army Reserve and active duty.

To learn more, listen to the episode featuring Rustin "Nemo" Owen or read the articles, "Veterans in the Line Trade," or Military Linemen at www.tdworld.com. Also, make sure to email us with your comments on this episode and suggestions for future podcast guests to linelifepodcast@gmail.com. 

New for 2024, T&D World is featuring audio stories on the second and fourth Fridays of each month and interview-style episodes on the first and third Fridays. To kick off the "In Case You Missed It" (ICYMI) series, we are featuring an article from the December 2023 field-focused Electric Utility Operations section of T&D World. This article titled, "Line Trade Unites at 2023 Rodeo Week," was narrated and written by Field Editor Amy Fischbach. Email us with your comments on this episode and suggestions for future guests to linelifepodcast@gmail.com. 

This episode of T&D World's Line Life Podcast features Rustin Owen, a U.S. Army veteran who has worked in the power industry for 20 years. Rustin started working in the line trade in the U.S. Army's Prime Power Unit. During his time with the military, he traveled the world providing power to U.S. forces and helping in natural disasters. He was also one of the founders of the U.S. Army Power Line Distribution Course to train Army lineworkers.

Rustin competed at the International Lineman's Rodeo before serving on the sidelines for the International Lineman's Rodeo Association safety committee. He also worked as a safety professional for an IOU before moving on to his current role at Honeywell Salisbury. 

David Mendonca worked in the line trade as a lineworker for 16 years before founding the Show Up Dad Foundation. He is a husband and father of three who is helping other dads in the line trade to reignite engagement with their families. He is also the host of the Show Up Dad podcast, which has two special series: the Lineman Chronicles and Marriage on the Line, Lifeline. His show, which is available on all major platforms, releases new episodes each Monday. His podcast is also aired on a national radio show. 

For Part 2 of our series featuring Chad Dubea, we are highlighting the Fallen Linemen Organization (FLO), which helps families of wounded or fallen lineworkers in their time of need. After working in the line trade, Chad was looking for a way to give back to the industry he loved, and he founded the FLO to help families of lineworkers. 

During the episode, we also explore his role as the executive director of the 2016 movie, "Life on the Line," starring John Travolta and Sharon Stone, as well as his work to promote the line trade through the Drivin' for Linemen 200 NASCAR truck race.

In addition, he describes the plans for moving the bronze lineworker memorial statue to Florida, the new home of the International Lineman's Museum. To learn more, stay tuned for a future Line Life Podcast episode featuring Andy Price, the founder of the International Lineman's Museum. 

Also, check out the 2024 T&D World Lineworker Supplement, which features Chad in two stories: Lineworkers to Leaders and Lineworkers Light the Way in the Line Trade. You can read the digital edition here. 

Finally, don't miss Part 1, in which Chad shares his tips for lineworkers to start a business in the line trade. 

Lineworkers must work in challenging conditions and in the middle of the night to keep the lights on for customers. During one special week each year, however, line families can come together to celebrate the line trade at the International Lineman's Rodeo. 

This episode shines the spotlight on line families. It features interviews with Crystal Tompkins, the wife of a Jackson EMC senior team competitor and Eddie (Frank) Hutter, the dad of David, a Duke Progress apprentice lineworker. It also features the voices of line kids including Kale Lindquist; Esteban and Isabella Byrd; Preston Draper; Kipton Koehler and Bristol Novak. 

In addition, this episode features a segment on the Climbin4kids program, which is organized by Ameren Illinois to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Lineworker Paul Koehler, who recently lost his daughter, Guiliana, to childhood cancer, speaks out about how the program helped him and his family. He also shares how the line trade can continue to support the fundraiser to help other families. 

If you would like to donate to the Climbin for Kids fundraiser, you can email Climbinforkids@ameren.com or visit the new page on Instagram or the fundraising website.

The 2023 International Lineman's Rodeo shattered records across the board with 1,316 competitors, 292 teams, 440 apprentices, 541 judges and 100 volunteers. To bring the event coverage to life, we conducted live interviews in our T&D World booth at the Lineman's Expo. 

Everyone from line kids to competitors and event judges stopped by our booth to share their stories about why they were participating in the Lineman's Rodeo Week.

Part 1 features interviews with competitors and supporters, while Part 2, which will air in November 2023, will focus on the line families and the Climbin for Kids fundraiser. Visit the T&D World website for more event coverage and to see a photo gallery of those featured in this episode, visit https://tdworld.com/21275912

For our latest episode of T&D Talk, a special series on the T&D World Line Life podcast channel, we are focusing on the installation of high-voltage transmission lines. Our guest is Randy Denmon, director of high-voltage services for Southwire. He has been in the industry for 25 years and is responsible for the safe, quality installation of 69 kV through 500 kV underground transmission projects. For more information, visit Southwire's website or T&D World's website.

With the 2023 International Lineman's Rodeo Week right around the corner, we are building excitement for the competition with a Line Life podcast episode highlighting a past championship team. Two years ago, Duke Energy's journeyman lineworker team of Sandy Barnhill, Jay Tipton and Keith Griffin rose to the top of the competition and won the championship title. The trio share their memories from their years of competing at the Rodeo. For them, the Rodeo is both a time for competition and to spend time with their families and friends in the line trade. 

Flame-resistant (FR) clothing can be lineworkers' last line of defense against arc flash hazards. To help our field readers stay safe in the field, T&D World is devoting a T&D Talk podcast episode to the proper care, use and maintenance of FR clothing. Our guest for the September 2023 episode is Derek Sang, senior technical training manager for Bulwark FR. He has been involved in the FR clothing industry in various roles from the service, manufacturing and garment sides of the business for more than 25 years. 

In today's electric utility industry, utility companies face many challenges from aging infrastructure to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, they are faced with new opportunities including renewable energy projects and new energy demands, says Seán Adam, vice president of market strategy and innovation for AFL. In our third T&D Talk podcast, Seán explains how Fiber Through the Grid technology will continue transforming the grid both today and in the future. For more information about AFL's Follow the Power approach, visit www.aflglobal.com.

For our August 2023 Line Life Podcast episode, we are highlighting Light Up Navajo, a humanitarian project that launched in 2019. Lineworkers from across the country have volunteered to provide first-time electricity to the homes on the Navajo Nation, a 27,000-square-mile region spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Our guest for this episode is volunteer lineworker Dean Frescholz, section supervisor for Salt River Project. 

Ameren Missouri recently installed high-visibility flight diverters on distribution and high-voltage transmission lines over Bagnell Dam at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. With bald eagles flocking to the area, the flight diverters help to prevent collisions with overhead lines.

In other parts of the service territory, lineworkers have installed covers, deterring not only eagles but also other large birds from striking multiple energized phases at the same time. Through its avian protection program, Ameren is not only protecting wildlife but also the integrity of its distribution system. 

For T&D World's July 2023 Line Life Podcast, which is sponsored by Huskie Tools, Field Editor Amy Fischbach has a conversation with Kurt Rakers, supervising engineer at Ameren Missouri, about how the utility used drones to install the bird diverters.

T&D Talk is a new special series on our Line Life Podcast channel. For each episode, companies can share their stories about how they are supporting the electric utility industry. Through their tools, technologies, products and services, they are helping lineworkers and fieldworkers improve their productivity and safety.

For our second episode in our T&D Talk podcast series, Ray Kasten, vice president, digital solutions, for Southwire, focuses on digital grid resiliency assessments. With lower O&M dollars and more customers working from home, utilities can conduct a 30-day assessment to measure the health of their network, identify areas of improvement with the highest ROI and improve reliability and resiliency with limited dollars. For more information, visit www.southwire.com.

For the first three parts of our Women on the Line series for our Line Life Podcast, we focused on the history of women in line work. Now we are looking to the future with Part 4, which features Lineworker Randi Blaser of Ameren Illinois. With both a mom and dad in the line trade, Randi grew up in the industry and remembers watching lineworkers compete at the International Lineman's Rodeo as a child. It wasn't until she was in college, however, that she decided she wanted to pursue a career in the trade. She recently topped out at Ameren Illinois, and during this podcast episode, she shares the challenges and opportunities for women in the line trade.

The August 2024 cover story of T&D World is now an audio story in our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast. The article, authored by Lewis Bates of SSEN, shares how a combination of drones, robots and specially designed visual signals can divert birds from Scottish power lines. 

To protect its power grid from birds, SSEN Transmission installed a visual warning to allow birds to alter their flight path. The Scottish utility worked with FulcrumAir to install the Power Line Sentry Hawk Eye BFD diverters by robot and drone. 

To read the full story, go to T&D World's website. 

Back in the 1970s, Joanne Ward became interested in non-traditional job roles for women, and she applied for a position as a line crew helper for Seattle City Light, where she later served as a crew chief and crew coordinator. Years after her retirement, she published a poetry book titled, Utility. For Part 3 of our Women on the Line series, Joanne recites some of her poems, including "1978: Affirmative Action," "Utility" and "Cable Terminations." She also shares her memories of working as a high-voltage electrician in substation maintenance and construction and offers tips on crew leadership for women who are currently working in the line trade. 

Our guest for the April 2023 Line Life Podcast is Alice Lockridge, who helped to prepare some of the first women lineworkers at Seattle City Light for a career in the line trade. In Part 2 of our Women on the Line series, Alice shares tips on how utilities can attract, train and retain women in the field workforce. 

T&D Talk is a new special series on our Line Life Podcast channel. For each episode, companies can share their stories about how they are supporting the electric utility industry. Through their tools, technologies, products and services, they are helping lineworkers and fieldworkers improve their productivity and safety. Episode 1 focuses on the cable rejuvenation process by Southwire Cable Rejuvenation Services, formerly Novinium Underground. It features Wayne Chatterton, director of strategy for the services industry and James Steele, director of engineering, for Southwire. For more information, visit www.southwire.com.

For Women's History Month in March 2023, we are featuring Susan Blaser, the lineman program coordinator at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City. Susan was the first journeyman lineworker at Kansas City Power & Light (now Evergy) and she now trains students for future careers in the line trade. In this episode, she shares her experiences about what it was like working as a female lineworker and discusses the opportunities for women in today's field workforce.