The Line Life Podcast

Lineman Hall of Famers, Part 4: Susan Blaser Shares Her Story from the Field to the Training Yard

This episode of the Line Life Podcast features Susan Blaser, a 2020 International Linemen Hall of Fame inductee and the first female journeyman lineworker in Missouri. Line Life Podcast Host Amy Fischbach interviews Susan about her career in the field, her role training students at Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City and her work promoting safety and inclusion in the line trade.

Topics include on-the-job safety (hydration, heat awareness and best practices), bringing students to the International Linemen’s Rodeo for hands-on learning, encouraging more women to enter the trade and how new tools like drones and helicopters are changing line work.

Susan also shares personal highlights, including her daughter Randi’s path as a journeyman lineman at Ameren Illinois, her decades of field and teaching experience and the importance of mentorship and community in sustaining the profession.

ICYMI: Pathways to Power: Pre-Apprentice Training Programs Light the Way for Future Lineworkers

The line trade gives apprentices the opportunity to earn while they learn and train for a lifelong career powering their communities. Before they even join an apprenticeship program, however, some high school graduates are learning the basics of line work through a pre-apprenticeship. For example, our latest ICYMI episode of the Line Life Podcast highlights the one-year Electric Utility Technology Program at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Iowa.

This article, "Training for a Future Career on the Line," which originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of T&D World magazine, spotlights two former students: Trevor Grefe and Kellen Miller. Grefe became interested in the line trade because he wanted to work with his hands, found the concept of electricity fascinating and wanted to help people. Miller learned about opportunities in line work as an intern at an architectural firm after seeing a photo of a lineworker hanging out of a helicopter, working on a transmission line. 

For more information, visit DMACC's training program website or read the article on T&D World's website. 

Lineman Hall of Famers, Part 3: Featuring Bill Bosch of Northwest Lineman College

For the third part of our Line Life Podcast series on Lineman Hall of Famers, we are featuring an interview with Bill Bosch, vice president of apprenticeship and client solutions for Northwest Lineman College (NLC). He has worked in a variety of different operations, safety, training and management roles over his more than 45 years in the line trade.

He also founded the National Association of Journeymen Linemen to promote the brotherhood, sacrifice and dedication of the line trade. To further honor lineworkers, Bill introduced legislation in 2012 to establish National Lineman Appreciation Day, which is now celebrated annually on April 18. He is also working to get lineworkers officially recognized as first responders with the Linemen Legacy Act. This bill is now in the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. To push this legislation forward, Bill encourages all lineworkers to contact their local members of Congress to support H.R. 7610, the Linemen Legacy Act. 

To listen to more stories of Lineman Hall of Famers, tune in to Part 1 featuring Robert Padgett and Part 2 showcasing Brandon Wylie and his song, "Highline Heroes." You can also learn about all the Hall of Famers dating back to 2006 by visiting the website for the International Lineman's Museum and Hall of Fame. 

T&D World Line Life Podcast Chat | Smarter, Safer, Stronger: How Smart Technologies Are Empowering Power Line Crews

The powerline industry is entering a new era, shaped by the rise of smart grid technologies. These tools raise important questions. How will these innovations impact the job and how do line workers adapt to make the work safer and more efficient?

In this sponsored episode, managing editor Jeff Postelwait chats with Lea Maurer (Business Development Director at S&C Electric Company) about the push for more reliable, resilient power, and why utilities are turning to new technologies to modernize the grid.  

This episode is sponsored by S&C Electric 

ICYMI: The Grid's Early Warning System

By leveraging the power of AI, electric utilities nationwide are discovering ways to improve the efficiency and safety of their field crews. For example, the Grid Operations team at Southern California Edison (SCE) launched the AWARE system two years ago to mitigate outages, expedite restoration and improve productivity for the field workforce. 

Listen to the narrated version of the October 2025 cover story to learn how the AWARE system monitors the health of the grid and alerts crews to early-stage faults. SCE and Edison International recently won the electric power industry's highest honor: the Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for the AWARE technology. To read the full article, which went online as "SCE Accelerates Fault Detection with the Power of AI," visit T&D World's website. 

If your utility is using technology in an innovative way, we'd love to hear from you. Email Amy Fischbach, Head of Content for T&D World and the host of the Line Life podcast, to put your utility in the spotlight. 

Training on the Line: Featuring Lineman Hall of Famer Brandon Wylie from Quanta Services

Brandon Wylie, who was inducted into the International Lineman Hall of Fame in 2023, is the guest for Part 2 of our Hall of Famers series. He has more than 27 years of experience in the power line industry and currently serves as a regional director of training for Quanta Services in the Southeast. In this role, he leads workforce development, safety and leadership training initiatives across multiple operating companies.

Before joining Quanta, he served as vice president of apprenticeships with Northwest Lineman College (NLC) and director of training and safety at Electric Cities of Georgia, where he spent more than 15 years designing and leading training programs for lineworkers and safety professionals.

He has served as a chair of the APPA Safety Committee, vice chair of the National Association of Journeyman Linemen and a board member of the International Lineman's Museum and Hall of Fame. He's a certified utility safety professional, and he's proud to be a second-generation lineman. He's also the writer of "Highline Cowboy," a song inspired by his life as a lineman that was later featured in "Storm Soldiers" and "Life on the Line," starring John Travolta.

Listen to this episode to hear the excerpt of the song and learn about his life and career in the line trade. Also, tune in to Part 1 of this series featuring Robert Padgett, who retired from Lakeland Electric before starting Padgett Poleline. 

ICYMI: Extreme Storms

Every year, we try to feature a storm-related article in our annual T&D World Lineworker Supplement. The article, "Extreme Storms," pays tribute to the line crews who worked long hours on the line to restore power and rebuild infrastructure in the wake of severe storms in their service territories. 

This audio story shines the spotlight on three major storms: a bomb cyclone in Washington, a historic ice storm in Michigan and tornadoes in Missouri and Illinois. Consumers Energy, Puget Sound Energy and Ameren Illinois and Missouri shared their best practices following these storms and how their line crews got the lights back on swiftly and safely. 

If you're interested in more storm coverage, you can also listen to the recent two-part Line Life Podcast series on Hurricane Helene: One Year Later on Podbean. You can also email Amy Fischbach to share your story about your company's storm response in T&D World magazine.

Honoring the History of Line Work: Featuring Robert Padgett of the International Lineman's Museum

The new location for the International Lineman's Museum and Hall of Fame may still be underway in Florida, but Journeyman Lineman Robert Padgett has been collecting historical tools and artifacts throughout his 31 years in the trade. During this episode of the T&D World Line Life Podcast, we kick off the New Year by featuring a new series showcasing Padgett and others inducted into the Lineman Hall of Fame.

Padgett started working for Lakeland Electric in 1988 in Lakeland, Florida, before founding Padget Poleline. He has trained hundreds of apprentices throughout his career, and he is dedicated to preserving the history of line work. He has also been competing at the International Lineman's Rodeo for years and was instrumental in starting the Florida Lineman's Rodeo.

To learn more about his career in the line trade and how he is giving back by serving on the museum's board of directors, listen to the audio story "Life After the Line," narrated from the 2025 T&D World Lineworker Supplement. You can also check out the website to read all the profiles of all those inducted into the Hall of Fame since 2006 and tune in to the Oct. 4, 2024, Line Life Podcast episode featuring Andy Price, the founder of the International Lineman's Museum.

If you want to nominate someone who has made notable contributions to the line trade and the electric utility industry, click here to find out more about the induction process. Thanks for tuning in to the Line Life Podcast, and go to Podbean to learn how to subscribe so you can listen to other parts of this series.