- Regional Lineman's Rodeo events test job skills critical to
power delivery and restoration
- International rodeo competition featuring the world's top
lineworkers to be held Oct. 19 in
Bonner Springs, Kan.
NEW
HILL, N.C., March 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- At a competition powered by
skill and packed with competitors, 30 Duke Energy lineworkers
secured spots over the weekend to compete among the most elite
lineworkers in the world this fall at the International Lineman's
Rodeo.
Duke Energy's Carolinas Lineman's Rodeo in New Hill was one of three regional Lineman's
Rodeos taking place this spring across Duke Energy's service areas,
displaying the talent and skills of the company's
dedicated lineworkers. Lineman's rodeos are specialized
contests that test job-related skills line technicians rely on
daily to restore power day and night – often in unpredictable
outdoor conditions. Events take place on de-energized equipment in
a simulated environment, but participants are scored based on
simulations of on-the-job work, with deductions for mistakes.
Competitors are judged on efficiency, agility, technique and safety
procedures.
Categories scored included equipment repair, pole climbs and
hurt man rescues. Duke Energy holds three regional competitions to
qualify lineworkers for the international competition – including
in the Carolinas, Florida and the
Midwest.
The Carolinas rodeo this year included one senior team, 46
journeyman teams and 76 apprentices. Team divisions are based in
part on tenure. An apprentice is a lineworker with less than four
years of utility experience. A journeyman or senior journeyman with
Duke Energy has more than four years of utility experience. The
senior division in a lineman's rodeo denotes lineworkers who are 50
years old or older.
"Our lineworkers are always prepared for any circumstance, but
the extreme elements associated with storms, oppressive heat and
bitterly cold temperatures can add challenges," said Scott Batson, chief power grid officer at Duke
Energy. "We are able to keep the lights on for millions of
customers who depend on us thanks to our line teams' dedication to
training, experience in the field, passion for their craft and
supporting one another."
Elevated expertise
Duke Energy Carolinas regional rodeo winners will join other top
lineworkers from Duke Energy rodeos in Florida and the Midwest to compete in the
International Lineman's Rodeo in Bonner
Springs, Kan., on Oct. 19, an
international event that attracts the most talented lineworkers
from around the world. The best lineworkers at Duke Energy and its
legacy companies have showcased their talents at the International
Lineman's Rodeo for more than two decades.
"Many linemen are competitive by nature which makes the rodeo
fun, but more importantly it gives our families an opportunity to
see what we do every day and what can sometimes take us away for
work in the middle of the night," said Jay
Tipton, journeyman lineworker with Duke Energy's Asheville
Operations Center. "It's wonderful that Duke Energy continues to
support us and this event that is so significant for those closest
to us."
Duke Energy Carolinas competitors advancing from regional rodeos
to the International Lineman's Rodeo include:
Apprentice Overall Awards
East Division
- First place – David Hutter
- Second place – Ryan Price
- Third place – Grayson
Lassiter
West Division
- First place – Eli Medford
- Second place – Dawson
Henderson
- Third place – James Smith
Overall Best Apprentice – David Hutter
Journeyman Overall Awards
East Division
- First place – Josh Haithcock,
Zack Haithcock, William Gandy
- Second place – David Grissom,
Austin Jackson, Grant Thompson
- Third place – Ryan Denning,
Lane Pickett, Austin Bowden
- Fourth place – Preston Pernell,
Gavin Frederick Tyler Pegram
West Division
- First place – Sandy Barnhill,
Jay Tipton, Keith Griffin
- Second place – Matt Josey,
Aaron Smith, Shane Stillwell
- Third place – Miles Bell,
Daniel Burrell, Jordan Henderson
- Fourth place – Tyler Manick,
Tyler Nickols, Joshua Buckner
Overall Best Journeyman Team – Sandy Barnhill, Jay
Tipton, Keith Griffin
Overall Best Senior Team – Sandy
Barnhill, Jay Tipton,
Keith Griffin
"The rodeo is a great place to showcase skills that we utilize
on a daily basis – and getting to compete in rain and inclement
weather like we saw Saturday reflects the scenarios we deal with on
a day-to-day basis," said William
Gandy, journeyman lineworker with Duke Energy's Florence
Operations Center. "I'm fortunate to compete with a team that has
the same determination and dedication to the job and our customers,
as working hand in hand through storms and daily work makes
competing at the rodeo together that much more meaningful."
The 2024 Carolinas Lineman's Rodeo was supported by volunteers
from across the Duke Energy community. Sixty Duke Energy
volunteers, 18 volunteers from South Wake Storm Youth Sports
Association, 20 volunteer students and staff from seven community
colleges, 72 judges and six bucket truck operators were on hand
during the competition.
Powering the future grid
Lineworkers play a key role in power grid improvement projects
that help modernize and strengthen Duke Energy's system against
storms and other impacts, making it more reliable and resilient.
This can include work to upgrade lines and poles, underground
outage-prone lines where data indicates it makes sense to do so,
and enhancing grid reliability through the integration of smart,
self-healing technology – which saved more than 1.5 million
customer interruptions and avoided more than 3.5 million hours of
customer outage time in 2023.
Hiring and developing entry-level craft and skilled talent is
critical to address the growing needs of residential and
nonresidential customers, as well as to deploy a cleaner, diverse
energy mix to meet current and future needs for these customers and
their communities. These vital employees also help enable the
connection of more renewables and added protection from
cybersecurity and physical threats.
Duke Energy continues to hire lineworker talent and works
closely with community colleges across its company footprint to
recruit diverse, skilled candidates. Individuals interested in
a lineworking career with Duke Energy should
contact community colleges directly for more information
on their specific lineworker training programs, including
available funding for tuition.
"Safely powering our customers and communities is the most
important job we have," said Batson. "We are proud to be able to
source extraordinary talent through our community college partners
to join our line teams and serve as ambassadors for the company
with our customers."
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities
serve 8.2 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves
1.6 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600
people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition
to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural
gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity
generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets
of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for
Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by
2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the
company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy
storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies
such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired
Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More
information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke
Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos
and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories
about people, innovations, community topics and environmental
issues. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Media contact: Logan Kureczka
Cell: 704.619.1190
Media line: 800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy