Every September, T&D World celebrates the line trade with its annual Lineman Supplement. Last year, we featured the award-winning Line Legacies article, which earned a national silver award in the Azbees Awards of Excellence competition sponsored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE).
Here's what you can look forward to in this year's supplement, which will be polybagged along with September's T&D World print issue. If you have any high-resolution photos or sources you think we should include in the following stories, email Field Editor Amy Fischbach.
- Tales of Troublemen: This feature story will profile journeymen linemen who serve as first responders and troublemen for their utility companies. These linemen often go above and beyond the call of duty to serve their communities, help those in need during emergency situations and keep the lights on for customers.
- Powering Global Communities: Many journeymen linemen often spend time away from their families to restore power and rebuild infrastructure following severe storms. A select group of linemen, however, have embarked on three-week volunteer trips to build power lines in countries such as Liberia, Guatemala and Bolivia through the program by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
- Recruiting the Next Generation of Linemen: As more experienced journeymen linemen retire from the trade, electric utilities are looking for new candidates to fill their work boots. This feature will include strategies from training institutions and utilities to recruit the new generation of linemen.
- Preventing Wildfires: As utilities gear up for wildfire season, their linemen are installing new technologies and hardening infrastructure as part of their wildfire mitigation program.