Lineman Rodeo kicks off in Warren County

WARREN COUNTY Ky. – At Phil Moore Park, linemen from across the state compete in the Lineman Rodeo, a chance to show and build their skills and learn how to work together with other lineman from all over Kentucky.

The primary purpose of the event is to build interoperability for when disaster strikes. Situations like the tornadoes in 2021 when linemen from unaffected areas are needed to help get the power back and must work with lineman from other counties. Randy Meredith from Kentucky Electric Co-op says that there is a great deal of knowledge getting exchanged at the event each year.

“They come, they compete against each other. But guess what? They share. They share the secrets. They share the trade secrets, the things that that are not shortcuts, but the easier way of doing things,” Meredith said.

Safety and speed are the biggest points that groups like Warren Rural Electrical Co-op Corporation want to build and train on at the event and WRECC Operations Supervisor Corey Weaver says that competing in timed events, especially the hurt man event makes crews more effective and safer overall.

“It’s good training. It makes these guys much better climbers. So when we do have to do this out in the field, it’s just second nature to them,” Weaver said.

At its core the Lineman Rodeo is a competition so it goes without saying that winning is a big deal, but Randy Meredith says there is more to it than that.

“This is their opportunity to show the progress they made through the year, their hard work, their dedication toward their safety, toward their training,” Meredith said.