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!