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 lineworkers for a career in the line trade. For the first part of this audio story, we are focusing on the pre-apprenticeship programs. For the second part, we will highlight seven recent and current pre-apprentices who are aspiring lineworkers.

Stay tuned to the Line Life Podcast to hear more audio stories narrated from our September 2025 Lineworker Supplement and interviews with guests at the 2025 International Lineman's Expo. For more Rodeo coverage, visit the T&D World website. Thanks for listening to the Line Life Podcast!

The International Lineman's Rodeo Week is having its biggest year yet for 2025, 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 year 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 apprentice division twice at the Rodeo.

Come join us at the International Lineman's Expo, where you can enter a drawing for a Milwaukee tool package, subscribe to the Lineman Life enewsletter, spin the wheel to win prizes and participate in a Line Life Podcast recording. Have a wonderful 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Week, and stay tuned to the Line Life Podcast and www.tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations for more Rodeo coverage.

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 international event, Duke Energy's lineworkers competed in regional Lineman's Rodeos in Florida, the Midwest and the Carolinas. The top finishers secured a spot to compete at the International Lineman's Rodeo in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the 2025 Lineman's Rodeo Week. Make sure to stop by the T&D World booth at the 2025 International Lineman's Expo to participate in a recording for the Line Life Podcast, enter a raffle drawing for a Milwaukee Tool prize package and scan your badge and spin the wheel to receive prizes.

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 workwear and PPE. Now that more women are entering the trades, they can stay safe and protected with garments and fall protection specifically made for them. She said NV Energy has taken good care of her throughout her career and given her the tools and equipment needed to succeed in the trade.

Along with serving as a foreman for NV Energy and serving on multiple committees, she also joins her coworkers to visit schools in the community to educate them about the dangers of electricity and raise awareness about the careers available in the utility industry.

If you want to be a guest for a future episode of the Line Life Podcast, stop by the T&D World booth at the 2025 International Lineman's Expo. Field Editor and Line Life Podcast Host Amy Fischbach will be interviewing lineworkers and their families on the trade show floor and featuring the interviews on Podbean. We look forward to seeing you In Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo week.

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 available online on the T&D World website.

If you are interested in submitting an abstract for the 2026 T&D World Vegetation Management Supplement, click here. You can also listen to two other audio stories narrated from articles in the 2025 supplement and interview-style episodes featuring Dr. Persad and Dennis Fallon, executive director of the UAA, on Podbean. Thanks for listening to the Line Life Podcast!

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 information about the UVM industry, listen to the narrated articles from the 2025 Vegetation Management Supplement, which T&D World publishes each June in partnership with the UAA. You can check them out at linelife.podbean.com. Also, mark your calendars for the 2026 Trees & Utilities conference, which is slated for next September in Portland, Oregon.

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 Rebuck of The Davey Tree Expert Company. To read more articles in the 2025 Vegetation Management supplement, visit the T&D World website. You can also submit an abstract for the 2026 supplement. We look forward to working with you to share stories about best practices, research and technologies in the utility vegetation management industry.

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 the NTUA for the last 17 years. When volunteer line crews come to Navajo Nation, he often shows them how to use pressure diggers to set poles in the rocky terrain. He invites lineworkers to join the project and help to power more homes on Navajo Nation in the future.

To learn more about this project, you can listen to the narrated version of the article, "Mutual Aid Without a Storm," from T&D World's Lineworker Supplement. You can also hear from two of the volunteer lineworkers who spent time on Navajo Nation: Arthur William Muñoz and Dean Frescholz, both section supervisors for Salt River Project (SRP) in Arizona. Lineworkers, thanks for all you do to not only power your own communities, but to support Light Up Navajo!