Life of a Lineworker: A Journey from Texas to the International Lineman's Rodeo

Born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in a small town called La Vernia.
Married for 19 years to his wife Gynna. They have four children: Lane, 13; Jacob, 11; Kaylen, 9; and Kase, 5.
Enjoys fishing, watching his sons play sports and coaching.
His journeyman team won both the internal Lineman’s Rodeo and the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo before competing at the International Lineman’s Rodeo in October 2024. He enjoys the camaraderie with the vast amount of people around the world who come to Lineman’s Rodeo Week.
As a supervisor, his goal is to make sure his crews do everything as safely as possible and get the work done in a timely manner.

Learning About the Trade

When I was in high school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do, but I was always interested in the electric field. My agriculture teacher introduced me to a local electric cooperative, Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC). A week after I graduated from high school and turned 18 years old, I joined the apprenticeship program at GVEC. I worked there for about 22 years and then left there to come to Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) in 2020.

Early Years

When I first started out in the line trade, I worked with a line crew on a digger truck or a boom truck. At that point, I really didn't know anything about the electric utility industry, so it was all new to me. I had some, some good teachers coming up, and I was kind of the kid that kept my mouth shut and did what I was told. During my apprenticeship, we would go out and build single-phase jobs. I primarily started off just doing overhead work, and then as I progressed, we did underground troubleshooting. I was raised in the country, and all our jobs were in a rural area, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. It was close to my hometown, and I knew a lot of people, so it worked out really well for me.

Training to Climb

When I started, I had to wait a year before they would let me go to climbing school, and back then, we were still free climbing. After I went to the school in San Antonio, I came back as a certified climber, and in those days, being a lot younger, climbing poles was my favorite part of the job. At that age, it was like the one thing that separated us from any other industry — the ability to climb poles.

Day in the Life

Today, I'm a regional operations supervisor on an overhead crew at PEC, but we also do underground work. For the residential jobs, we build the new services to the new homes and do maintenance work, like changing out poles. We also do bigger jobs, like reconducts. I don’t do it anymore, but we are also on call every few weeks. Now that I’m a supervisor, I can come in and help out with storms when our line crews need to respond to outages. We service one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, so we stay very busy, but always keep safety top of mind throughout our work.

Serving as a Leader in the Line Trade

The hardest part for me about being a leader is learning people’s personalities and preferences, because everyone learns a different way and wants to be taught differently. I was told a long time ago that everybody wants to be a boss until they have to slide into the driver’s seat and be the boss. You don’t know how you’re going to handle certain situations until you’re there. I’ve just been fortunate that I was trained how to be a leader and had the opportunity to take a lot of different training classes through PEC. We have a training center at PEC where we can continue to practice our skills and grow our craft.

Safety Lesson

The biggest thing for me is just making sure my guys go home safely. Early on in my career, one of my good friends didn’t get to go home. It’s stuck in the back of my head and I think about it every day. It’s hard because you build relationships with these guys, and you learn their personal lives. It’s a brotherhood, and these guys are like family.

Challenges and Rewards

The biggest reward of this job for me is just when people have been out of power, and you close in that fuse barrel and the lights come on. We’re out there working in all kinds of weather and getting the electricity on for the public is a big reward. It’s a good industry to be in because it isn’t going away, and we’re needed all the time. It’s also a fun job. Honestly, we get to do a lot of stuff that normal people don’t get to do. You’re out with a group of guys building jobs and you get to work with your hands.

Memorable Storm

In Texas, we get a lot of lightning storms, some tornadoes and flooding. My most memorable storm happened back in 1998, when it rained 18 inches in one night. The flooding caused so much devastation. That’s when I started realizing that I enjoyed helping people and getting their power back on. I’ve also worked some hurricanes in the past, and when you’re out in different parts of the state or just helping with storm restoration, the acknowledgement and gratitude people give you is a big reward for me. I enjoy that recognition and appreciation.

Competing at the Rodeo

After working as an apprentice for two to three years, I was introduced to the Lineman’s Rodeo. An older journeyman asked me if I wanted to be a groundman for the team. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I did it, and I was hooked. I've been involved with the International Lineman’s Rodeo since 2000, and in 2005, we won the cooperative division. In 2021, my kids got to watch our team get second place, and my youngest child was able to go up on stage with me. We have a culture here that values safety and puts it above everything we do. My favorite part is competing in the actual Rodeo. I’m always nervous before it starts, but once you put your first foot on the pole, it all goes away.