Line families have come to Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo for years to support their lineworkers during the day of competition and enjoy the camaraderie of the line trade.

At the 2024 International Lineman's Expo, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with one of the line wives -- Kara Pollei, the wife of Logan Pollei, an apprentice lineworker for Duke Energy. After working in the police force, Logan is now working on the line and competing at the International Lineman's Rodeo.

To read a profile about Logan in our Faces of the Future department, click here. If you know of an apprentice who we should profile in a future department and related podcast, please email Amy Fischbach, Field Editor and Line Life Podcast host. We look forward to hearing from you and putting your apprentices in the spotlight!

Our wildfire mitigation coverage continues with the narrated version of the story, "Hawaiian Electric Sets Three-Year Action Plan," from the May 2025 special report in T&D World's print magazine. This article, which is part of our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast, was written by Mark Asano, the director of integrated grid planning for Hawaiian Electric.

During the episode, he shares details about the four pillars of the utility's 2025-2027 Wildfire Safety Strategy: hardening and redesigning the grid, expanding and improving situational awareness, improving operational practices and strengthening stakeholder and community partnerships.

To read the full story, visit the Wildfire landing page on the T&D World website. You can also listen to two more audio stories narrated from the wildfire mitigation special report in our ICYMI series on Podbean: A Strategic Approach to Wildfire Risk Mitigation about Quanta Services and LUMA Energy and PGE Takes Holistic Approach to Wildfire Mitigation about Portland General Electric.

Thanks for tuning in and learning more about wildfire mitigation. If you have suggestions for future guests or comments on this or other episodes, email Field Editor Amy Fischbach, the host of the Line Life Podcast. I look forward to hearing from you!

Our guest for this episode is Chief Kevin Fischer, a member of the Delta Company for the U.S. Army 249th Engineer Battalion, a division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Fischer, who has 18 years of service, supervises lineworkers in the military.

During this episode, he describes the two different military occupation specialties (MOS) related to line work--the 12 Papa for generation and the 12 Quebec for distribution. He also describes overseas missions and how lineworkers respond to requests for individual combatant commands throughout the world.

As part of Prime Power, the lineworkers also have the opportunity to compete at the International Lineman's Rodeo. Each year, the U.S. Army brings journeyman lineworkers to Kansas City to compete in the military division.

For more information, tune in to a recent Line Life Podcast episode featuring SSG Christopher Garrett and go to Podbean to listen to other episodes focused on the military in the line trade. Thanks for listening, and we look forward to seeing you at the 2025 International Lineman's Rodeo Week in Kansas City!

For this audio story in our ICYMI series for the T&D World Line Life Podcast, we are continuing our coverage of wildfire mitigation with the narrated version of the article, "A Strategic Approach to Wildfire Risk Mitigation." This story, which was written by Alireza Majzoobi and Zhenzhen Zang of Quanta Technologies and Daniel Haughton of LUMA Energy, was originally published in the May 2025 Wildfire Mitigation Special Report within the T&D World print magazine.

In this story, the authors share a proactive strategy, which integrates advanced technology, predictive modeling, data-driven decision making and adaptive infrastructure planning. For more information, you can read the article on the T&D World website. You can also listen to another audio story on wildfire mitigation, "PGE Takes Holistic Approach to Mitigation," from the May 2025 section by clicking here. For further updates and stories on wildfire mitigation, check out T&D World's wildfire page on our website. To subscribe to the Line Life Podcast and become part of our community, click here or follow the podcast in your favorite podcasting app. Thanks for listening!

For our Fourth of July episode of the Line Life Podcast, we are celebrating those who dedicate their lives to service, not only in the line trade but also through the U.S. military. Our guest, SSG Christopher Garrett, discusses the opportunities available to lineworkers through the U.S. Army Reserve and active-duty in the 249th Engineer Battalion or Prime Power.

He traveled from Fort Belvoir in Virginia to Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo Week to support the competitors and teams in the military division and create awareness about the training and work opportunities available through Prime Power.

To learn more, you can stop by their booth at the 2025 International Lineman's Expo, visit their website or listen to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our Veterans in the Line Trade series on Podbean. You can also read a story called Veterans in the Line Trade, which explores opportunities for military veterans to become trained as lineworkers.

Thank you for tuning in to the Line Life Podcast, and Happy Fourth of July to lineworkers and your families!

T&D World covers wildfire mitigation year-round, but each May, we devote a special section or supplement to this topic. This audio story in our ICYMI series examines how Portland General Electric (PGE) is adopting a holistic approach to mitigation, setting a model for preventing wildfires in the Northwest.

To read the full story, which was authored by Ben Felton, executive vice president and chief operating officer of PGE and narrated by Amy Fischbach, host of the Line Life Podcast, visit the wildfire page on the T&D World website. Also, subscribe to the Line Life Podcast channel to listen to more audio stories about wildfire mitigation from the May 2025 special report in the print issue. We'd love to have you as part of our podcast community. Thanks for tuning in!

T&D Talk is a special series on the T&D World Line Life podcast channel. For each episode, companies can share their stories about how they are supporting the electric utility industry. Through their tools, technologies, products and services, they are helping lineworkers and fieldworkers improve their productivity and safety.

For Part 2 of a three-part series sponsored by Southwire, we are featuring the episode, "Novel Innovations in T&D to Ensure a Reliable Electric Grid." This episode focuses on innovations in transmission and distribution to ensure reliability and resiliency. Our guest is Charles Holcombe, director of overhead systems and solutions for Southwire.

To learn more about our guest and the topic of this episode, visit the T&D World website. You can also listen to Part 1 of our series by clicking here. Part 1 focuses on the role of Southwire's analytics in DEMCO's grid management.

Alman Kerste, a father of three kids, grew up in California and worked for Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) before relocating to the Kansas City area, where he now works for Evergy. He has spent nearly two decades in the line trade, most recently as an evening troubleman and a journeyman lineworker for a C&M crew in a district.

During this Line Life Podcast interview, he talks about responding to outages caused by thunderstorms in his home service territory and traveling to provide mutual assistance following Hurricane Helene. He also shares his experiences as a competitor and a volunteer for the International Lineman's Rodeo.