The Line Life Podcast

The Rise of Tech in UVM: Exploring the Impact of AI, VR and AR in the Utility Industry

Tree crews and lineworkers often work side by side, especially following storms. This T&D World Line Life Podcast episode explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) on utility vegetation management and the electric utility industry.

Guests include Phil Swart of Clearway Industries; Jason Grossman, manager of vegetation management for Liberty Utilities and Lawrence Kahn, adjunct professor at Tulane University Law School.

To learn more about UVM, subscribe to T&D World's Vegetation Management & Wildfire Mitigation enewsletter and check out our June 2025 T&D World Vegetation Management Supplement, published in partnership with the Utility Arborist Association (UAA). Also, make plans to attend the 2025 Trees & Utilities Conference presented by the UAA and Arbor Day Foundation Sept. 9 to 11 in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Lineworker Focus: Journeyman Brian Lozano of Midwest Energy

Brian Lozano, a journeyman lineworker for Midwest Energy, shares his story of working on the line in Hays, Kansas. The 28-year-old father of two started working for a contractor in Colorado in 2016, and six years later, he moved to central Kansas to work for Midwest Energy.

In his service territory, he responds to wind and tornadoes, but he has also provided mutual aid when he worked for a contractor. He says it's rewarding to help communities in need and work with other lineworkers to get the lights back on. He says in the line trade, safety is very important, and he strives to work safely to come home to his family every night.

To learn more about Brian, who competed for the first time at the 2024 International Lineman's Rodeo, check out the March 2025 "Focus: a Lineworker's View" department in T&D World magazine. 

ICYMI: Training on the Line: Highlighting Brittany Grammer of Northeast Community College

This episode of the Line Life Podcast takes us to Nebraska, where Brittany Grammer is studying to become a lineworker at Northeast Community College. Todd Pfeil, an instructor of the Utility Line Courses and an alumnus from the program, shares the story of the 36-year-old mother of four and the only woman in her class of 48 future utility lineworkers. The episode, which is part of our ICYMI series, is narrated from Todd's story, "Training on the Line" in our February 2025 field-focused Electric Utility Operations section in T&D World magazine. 

Faces of the Future, Part 7: Featuring Bryce Zahn of Capital Electric Line Builders

For Part 7 of our Faces of the Future series for the Line Life Podcast, we are featuring Bryce Zahn, an apprentice lineworker for Capital Electric Line Builders. For this episode, he shares his story about restoring power following Hurricane Helene and spending two weeks in North Carolina helping Duke Energy get the lights back on following flooding and mudslides. Bryce describes what it was like to stay in a man camp in a semi with a separate bed space, air conditioning and a sleeping bag after working 16-hour work days. 

At the end of the episode, you'll hear from his 10-year-old son, Caleb, who competed with his two brothers in the first annual International Power Line Kids Rodeo, hosted by Missouri Valley JATC and Buckingham Manufacturing. Caleb, who wants to follow in his dad's footsteps and become a lineworker one day, prepared for the event by climbing trees. He said he was happy to have his dad back from storm duty in North Carolina just in time for the International Lineman's Rodeo Week. 

Bryce is also featured in our December 2024 Faces of the Future department in T&D World magazine. View our playlist on the Line Life Podcast YouTube channel to listen to other apprentices in our Faces of the Future podcast series.

Apprentice lineworkers, if you're interested in being featured in a future Faces of the Future department, fill out this online form and email a photo of yourself working out in the field to amyfischbach@gmail.com. Journeyman lineworkers and field supervisors are highlighted in our Lineworker Focus department. We look forward to hearing from you!

ICYMI: Lineman's Rodeo Week Connects the Competitors

Lineworkers and their loved ones came from all over the world to celebrate the line trade at the 40th anniversary of the International Lineman's Rodeo. While the competition is always the Super Bowl of the line trade, participants can enjoy several days of camaraderie and networking before the competition even begins on the Rodeo grounds.

Every December, T&D World celebrates this event not only online and in social media, but also in its December print issue. This year, we featured one article on the winners, which we recently narrated for our ICYMI series for this episode, and another article exploring the events of Rodeo Week from the Safety and Training Conference to the Trade Night. Listen to this audio story to hear about how lineworkers learned to stay safe during the one-and-a-half-day conference, explored tools and technologies at the Lineman's Expo and swapped shirts and stories during Trade Night. 

Also, stay tuned to the Line Life Podcast to listen to future episodes featuring interviews from the trade show floor in the T&D World booth with special guests in the line trade. If you want to be on a future episode, email us at linelifepodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. 

Faces of the Future, Part 6: Featuring Lexie Bryant, OPPD Apprentice Lineworker

As we continue airing new Faces of the Future podcast episodes in 2025, we are kicking off the New Year with an episode highlighting Lexie Bryant, apprentice lineworker for Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). Five years ago, she won the International Lineman's Rodeo Association's Jim Hamilton Scholarship, which was sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric.

Today, she works as an apprentice lineworker for OPPD, and she is learning the skills of the line trade. During the interview, she shares how her career plans changed from pursuing a career as a lawyer to a lineworker, and how being in the line trade was the best decision she's ever made. To learn more about Lexie, look for her profile in the February 2025 print  issue of T&D World magazine and on our website. 

If you have an apprentice lineworker you'd like to nominate for a future department and podcast episode, please email us at linelifepodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. 

ICYMI: 2024 Lineman's Rodeo Roundup Featuring Musical Excerpts From Blane Howard

The International Lineman's Rodeo celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024 with more than 1,000 competitors. Listen to the narrated version of the article, "2024 Lineman's Rodeo Roundup" from the December 2024 print issue of T&D World magazine to hear all about the winners of the events across the apprentice and journeyman divisions. Congratulations to all the competitors, especially those who crossed the awards stage at the annual banquet. 

In addition to providing an overview of the events at the 2024 competition, this episode includes a special shout-out to lineworkers with musical excerpts from Blane Howard, a Nashville independent recording artist, singer and songwriter. He  kicked off the International Lineman's Rodeo awards banquet by singing parodies of famous country songs with lyrics focused on the hard-working line trade. To see the video of his performance, visit our YouTube channel for the Line Life Podcast. 

Lineworkers and your families, we look forward to seeing you at the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Week from Oct. 15-18, 2025. Learn more by visiting the website. 

Spotlight on LUMA Energy's Apprenticeship Program: Training Tomorrow's Future Field Workforce in Puerto Rico

As LUMA Energy continues to improve resiliency and power reliability on the island of Puerto Rico, the utility is training new apprentices to work alongside its field workforce. In June 2021, Quanta Services Inc. and ATCO launched LUMA Energy through a joint venture.

To train tomorrow's workforce and meet the need for more lineworkers, they later brought in a Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship program to replace the existing in-house training by the previous administration. During this Line Life Podcast episode, Lindsey Petteplace, LUMA's workforce transition manager and Jorge Olivero, apprenticeship coordinator for operations for LUMA, share the story of how the program has continued to evolve to prepare the apprentices for long-term and financially rewarding careers in the line trade. 

These apprentices study and train at LUMA College, a chapter of Northwest Lineman College in Puerto Rico. At the training facility, they learn how to scale everything from wood to steel to concrete and fiberglass poles and train on the TransBanker mobile transformer training simulator. After they successfully finish the 13-week Utility Lineman Program, they then start working in the field on projects to power Puerto Rico.