Duke Energy Lineworkers Earn Six Awards at International Lineman's Rodeo
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy announced on October 21 that its lineworker teams earned six awards at the International Lineman's Rodeo, held October 17 in Bonner Springs, Kansas. The competition, held for more than 40 years, is one of the world's premier lineworker events; its events are modeled on the real-world tasks lineworkers perform to maintain the electric grid and restore power after storms, and competitors are evaluated on speed, agility, technique and adherence to safety procedures.
This year's rodeo brought together approximately 1,250 competitors from around the world. Duke Energy sent 57 lineworkers who had earned their spots by ranking among the top performers at the company's regional rodeos earlier in 2026. Among the honors, Justin McCarson, Heath Burrell and Miles Bell placed second overall in the journeyman division, while Keith Griffin, Jay Tipton and Sandy Barnhill took first place in the journeyman seniors division.
Duke Energy said its lineworkers maintain and upgrade the grid every day, restore power after severe weather, and play a key role in installing smart, self-healing technology that can detect outages, automatically reroute power and often restore service in less than a minute.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：线路工竞技赛（Lineman's Rodeo）场地资料图：两台高空作业车升起美国国旗，背景为电杆竞技区。此为同类赛事场地实景，并非杜克能源参赛的堪萨斯国际赛现场。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，作者 Crcjfly（自有作品）。
