The Line Life Podcast

For Part 2 of our Line Life Podcast series on mental health in the line trade, we are featuring an interview with Jennifer Lavin, the founder of Union Care Solutions, which supports mental health and peer support across the power industry.

She was featured in the article "Prioritizing the Mental Health of First Responders" in the 2025 T&D World Lineworker Supplement. Jenny also delivered the presentation, "Protection Under the ...

Line work is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, with fatality rates in the line trade more than six times those in all other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. To come home safely to their families every night, lineworkers must not only follow safe work practices and wear proper personal protective equipment, but also safeguard their mental health. Oftentimes, lineworkers experience a near-miss t...

Hurricane Helene washed out roads and bridges, toppled trees and made it nearly impossible for line crews to access certain areas for restoration. Part 2 of our two-part series on this hurricane looks back at the storm response one year ago, when line crews had to rely on everything from paper maps to walkie-talkies to get the job done. 

This episode features the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Duke Energy team of Miles Bell, Jo...

This audio story, narrated from the article "Line After the Line" in the 2025 T&D World Lineworker Supplement, highlights five journeymen lineworkers who have continued to serve their communities after their careers on the line. This episode, part of our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast, features the stories of Robert Padgett, Randy Beckes, Rustin Owen, Rick Owens and Maximo Fuentes. 

They share stories of their careers i...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we featured the Line Life Podcast episode, "Voices from the Field." For this new two-part series, we are featuring the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Duke Energy journeyman team of Miles Bell, Jordan Henderson and Heath Burrell, who all responded to Hurricane Helene. 

During this podcast episode, they discuss their careers in the line trade, their most memorable storms, and their memories o...

This Line Life Podcast episode shines the spotlight on seven pre-apprentices, who are the future of the line trade. In the first part of this ICYMI series, we featured an overview of different training programs and the opportunities available in the line trade. Part 2 profiles recent and current pre-apprentices who are training to work on the line.

This episode shares the stories of Bryy Marriott, who won the Edison International L...

This episode looks back at the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo competition, which was the largest event in more than four decades. This episode features highlights from the opening ceremony and interviews live from the Rodeo grounds. For more Rodeo coverage, stay tuned to the Line Life Podcast and visit the T&D World website to view photo galleries, videos, articles and more. Congratulations to all the winners and competitor...

T&D World's annual Lineworker supplement celebrates the line trade with in-depth feature articles about line work. For this episode in our In Case You Missed It series, we are highlighting the first article in the supplement, "Fast Forward to the Future of the Line Trade." 

This article explores the pre-apprenticeship training opportunities available in the utility industry and how these programs are preparing up-and-coming lin...

The International Lineman's Rodeo Week is having its biggest year yet, with more exhibitors and competitors in its largest show to date. About 225 exhibitors and 5,000 people are at the event this year. This episode includes interviews with Sam Posa, exhibit and sponsorship sales manager for the International Lineman's Rodeo, and Zackery Gough, who recently topped out as a journeyman at Pedernales Electric Cooperative but won the a...

With the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Week just around the corner, we are featuring the article, "Lineman's Rodeos: A Tradition Unlike Any Other," in our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast. 

This article honors Duke Energy's lineworkers, who will be returning to compete at the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo after spending the 2024 Rodeo Week on storm response following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

On the road to the...

At the 2024 International Lineman's Expo, I had the honor of meeting many incredible lineworkers, including Shannon Skinner, foreman for NV Energy and the president of IBEW Local 396. Her step-father, two uncles and cousins worked in the line trade, and she became the first female lineworker west of the Mississippi in 1984. 

When she first started working out in the field, she remembers hot sticking in a tank top and wearing men's ...

Every June, T&D World publishes the annual Vegetation Management supplement in partnership with the Utility Arborist Association (UAA). One of these feature articles explores how Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is driving biodiversity through its ROW and utility corridor management program in Northern California. 

This article, authored by Dr. Anand B. Persad of Tetra Energy Sciences and Eric Brown of SMUD, is also...

More than 1,500 utility vegetation management professionals joined forces in Knoxville, Tennessee, this September for the 2025 Trees & Utilities event, presented by the Utility Arborist Association (UAA) and the Arbor Day Foundation. During this episode, Dennis Fallon, the executive director of the UAA, shares his thoughts on trends and best practices in UVM and describes the highlights of this year's event.

For more informatio...

T&D World publishes the annual Vegetation Management supplement in partnership with the Utility Arborist Association (UAA) each June. For the 2025 Trees & Utilities week in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, we are featuring the audio story, "Monitoring Pollinators in ROWs by Drone." 

This article explores research underway to leverage drone technology for responsible right-of-way vegetation management. It was written by Jill R...

The Light Up Navajo program, which is organized by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) and the American Public Power Association (APPA), brings first-time electricity to homes on Navajo Nation. Lineworkers from across the country volunteer for one to two weeks each year to set poles and string lines as part of the humanitarian project. 

This episode features guest Benjamin Charley, a journeyman lineworker who has worked for ...

T&D Talk is a special series on the T&D World 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. The third part of our 2025 T&D Talk series, sponsored by Southwire, focuses on grid resiliency...

In the electric utility industry, vegetation management plays an integral role in reliability and resiliency. For this episode of the Line Life Podcast, we are featuring an interview with Dr. Anand Persad, the founder and director of research with Tetra Energy Sciences Research and Consulting.

I interviewed Dr. Persad at last year's Trees & Utilities conference in Fort Worth, Texas, to learn more about the challenges and opport...

Years ago, I first met Michael Stremel, who recently retired from a career in the line trade at Midwest Energy. He first started competing at the International Lineman's Rodeo as an apprentice back in 1988, and he has been involved in the event as both a competitor and a volunteer for the International Lineman's Rodeo Association (ILRA). ever since. He has about 49 years of experience in the electric utility industry and enjoys vol...

Line crews often encounter wildlife while working in the field and constructing and maintaining infrastructure in their service territories. For example, Cooperative Energy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, discovered a threatened population of gopher tortoises in their rights-of-way (ROW). After applying herbicides and investing in an integrated vegetation management (IVM) program, the utility was able to dramatically increase the popu...