What are the biggest challenges, opportunities, and conversations shaping the electric utility industry today?
In this special episode of PowerGridTalks, host Thomas Williamson travels to the 2026 OSR Conference to speak with linemen, utility leaders, contractors, manufacturers, and industry professionals from across North America. Through a series of candid conversations, you'll hear firsthand perspectives on the future of linework, storm restoration, workforce development, safety culture, leadership, emerging technology, and what it takes to build a stronger, more resilient power grid.
Whether you're a journeyman lineman, apprentice, utility executive, contractor, or someone exploring a career in the electrical utility industry, this episode provides a unique snapshot of where the industry is headed—and the people helping shape its future.
In this episode you'll hear discussions about:
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Electric utility industry trends in 2026
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Storm restoration and emergency response
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Utility leadership and company culture
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Recruiting and developing the next generation of linemen
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Safety, training, and career development
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Innovations impacting electric utilities
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Lessons from the field and real-world experiences
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The future of power delivery and grid reliability
PowerGridTalks brings together the voices behind the electric grid, from bucket trucks to boardrooms, to share real stories, practical knowledge, and insights from the people who keep the lights on.
(1:35) - Contractor Real Talk (2:33) - Safety With Humanity (3:27) - Drones In The Field (4:52) - Ego And Entitlement (5:37) - Hard Lessons Learned (6:55) - Warning Label Wisdom (11:09) - Pride And Integrity (12:54) - Leadership And Accountability (14:09) - Workforce Qualification Crisis (16:50) - People First Leadership (17:52) - Distribution vs Transmission (18:23) - Safety And Legitimacy (19:26) - Storm Software (21:14) - Passing Down Knowledge (22:05) - Wildest No Show Excuses (22:51) - Compassion And Fatalities (25:40) - Inside The OSR Conference (29:45) - Fundraising And Tough Talks (31:28) - Linemen Personalities
🎧 Visit https://powergridtalks.com for more episodes, articles, and resources for utility professionals.
If you enjoy conversations about linemen, power line work, electric utilities, transmission and distribution, storm restoration, utility leadership, apprenticeships, power grid reliability, and the future of the electrical industry, be sure to Like, Subscribe, and Share to help more utility professionals discover the show.
#PowerGridTalks #Lineman #ElectricUtility #UtilityIndustry #StormRestoration #PowerGrid #Transmission #Distribution #UtilityLeadership #Linework #JourneymanLineman #GridReliability #UtilityCareers #ElectricalIndustry
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Recently, the Power Grid Talks podcast was invited by OSR to their
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contractor conference in Nashville to do what we enjoy most, having
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honest conversations with the people who are helping shape this industry.
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Over a couple of days, we sat down with linemen, contractors, safety
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professionals, and tons of other people to talk about some of the
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biggest issues we're facing today.
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From safety and workforce challenges to leadership, culture, and where
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this trade is headed next, there was no shortage of great discussion.
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This episode brings those conversations together in one place.
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We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed having them.
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Let's get into it.
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You're listening to Power Grid Talks: From the Bucket Trucks to the Boardrooms.
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I'm your host, Tom Williamson, a journeyman lineman with
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over 15 years in the trade.
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Here we bring you real stories and real conversations from the
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field to the executive suites of the electric utility world.
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It's about the people who keep the power flowing and the grid strong.
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Let's get to work.
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All right, out here at the OSR- OSR Conference, and we're talking with?
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Dan Dumas from, uh, Quebec, Montreal, Canada.
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Perfect, and what do you, what do you do?
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I'm the business development for … director for, uh,
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Group EEA out of Montreal.
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Perfect.
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How long have you been in the industry?
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43 years.
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That's a long time.
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It is.
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So over 43 years, what's the thing that's probably changed the most?
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Equipment- Yeah … it- it's changed so much, I mean- Yeah … unbelievable.
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43 years ago they never even had line trucks, right?
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And we did have some line trucks, but they weren't li-
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they weren't like they are today.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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That's for sure.
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Yeah.
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We're pretty spoiled these days, that's for sure.
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Yeah, we sure we are.
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All right, out here at the OSR Conference, we're talking with?
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Brandon Akers.
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And Brandon, who do you work for and what do you do?
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I'm the owner of Akers Electric, and I'm a power line contractor.
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Where's Akers, uh, out of?
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Missouri.
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Okay.
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Nice.
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So Midwest, I like that.
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Yeah.
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So, uh, how long you been in the industry?
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About 12 years.
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So what would you say is the hardest thing about working with linemen?
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'Cause they're hard to deal with.
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They're stubborn.
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Yeah.
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It's their way, and that's it, right?
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Yeah.
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Their way or the highway.
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Yeah, every time, man.
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We're talking with?
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Ernie Diaz.
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Ernie, what company you work for, and what do you do?
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Gridline Power LLC out of Michigan, uh, owner.
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Okay.
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Perfect.
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Gridline.
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How been lo- how many years you been in the industry?
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Close to 30.
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30 years.
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Close to 30.
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Wow.
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That's, that's awesome.
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Congratulations for that.
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Appreciate it.
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Yeah.
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Appreciate it.
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So that many years in the industry, what would you say the worst part
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is about working with linemen?
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There really isn't.
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They're all good guys.
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Yeah?
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There you go.
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Kinda, kinda dicks like me.
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Yeah, there you go.
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There you go.
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Hey, they must come, they must come pretty good for your part
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of the country then, right?
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Oh, yeah.
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Oh, yeah.
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If you could wave a magic wand tomorrow and change one thing about
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the industry, what would you change?
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I would love to change the conversation around safety from being a conversation
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around safety to being an action and practice around safety, and putting that
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humanity back into the industry- Yep
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so it's not just about the numbers.
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That's it.
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I love it.
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It's something that needs to happen, and they've been looking past that for so
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long as an industry as a whole, right?
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Yes.
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Perfect.
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Megan, thank you very much.
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Thank you so much.
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Yes.
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If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing in the industry tomorrow, magic
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wand, whatever you want, what would it be?
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Yeah, I think, uh, they were hitting on it earlier, one of the speakers
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was hitting on it, that, you know, and the expectations of some of these
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crews getting to these utilities and these energy companies in a timely
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fashion, and kinda picking quality over quantity, and being there quick, and
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having some of these contractors that know what they're doing, even though
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they might be a little farther away.
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Heck yeah, those expectations are out there sometimes.
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Yeah, appreciate it.
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Enjoy.
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Yeah, thank you.
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Yeah.
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All right, out here at the OSR Conference, and we're talking with… Jason Taylor.
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Jason, who do you work for?
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What do you do?
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Uh, Sentinel Robotic Solutions, a woman-owned small business out of
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Virginia, um, director of UAS programs.
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Nice.
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Okay.
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So what's a average day on the job site look like for you?
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Uh, nationwide, um, one of our biggest niches, our biggest
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customers, are the electrical utility co-ops across the country.
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Um, we provide drone training, drone equipment, um, drone inspections.
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Cool.
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So really just working all over the country, and one day flying transmission,
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one day flying distribution, one day teaching a lineman how to fly drones- Nice
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safely, so a little bit of everything.
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Drones are taking over in our industry.
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They are.
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They are.
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Yeah.
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So how long have you guys been in business?
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Um, SRS was founded in 2012, um, and I've been with the company almost 10 years.
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That's awesome, man.
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So what's it like working with the line industry versus any other
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industry that you might be in?
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Um, well, I'm a retired firefighter, so obviously working with all
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the co-ops, it's a brotherhood.
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Yeah.
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You know, there's no, no, no bigger family than all the linemen
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in the co-ops working together.
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Yeah.
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It's just a, it's a different… All the co-ops we're with are just
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a different group of people- Yeah, yeah … you know, you socialize
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with and do, do partnerships with.
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It's almost like a different culture.
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When you walk in the room, you can kinda feel it, right?
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It's crazy.
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E- exactly, and- It's hard to explain … I've, I've been, I've…
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We work with co-ops across country, and we're o- we've gone out and did
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demos for, like, the CEOs of the co-op.
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Yeah.
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And then the guys in the room, when he walks out and says,
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"Hey, you know, the CEO also does call-outs with us on the weekend."
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So it's just a- That's awesome … a whole different mindset and attitude.
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Heck yeah.
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All right, out here today at the OSR Conference, and we're
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talking with… Kevin Gilkes.
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I'm with Ferro Electric, and, uh, I'm the administration,
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uh… You got me nervous, man.
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Yeah, I do that to people.
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It's, it's my presence.
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I do that to people.
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I'm the administrative director for Ferro Electric.
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We're based out of St. Louis- Okay … and, uh, we're a storm contractor.
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Uh, two-year-old company.
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Okay, nice.
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So we're fresh in the biz.
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Heck yeah.
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How long have you been in the industry?
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22 years.
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Okay.
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So let me ask you, what is the worst thing about working with linemen?
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Uh, ego Yeah.
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Yeah, it's all over the place, right?
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Ego.
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And ego is, is something that's created by the self.
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It's not- Yeah … it's not something you can buy and put on.
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It's something that's created here.
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That's it.
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And it has to be fixed there.
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That sense of entitlement has grown like a cancer in our
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industry over the last few years.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah, it's horrible.
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I hate it.
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All right, out here at the OSR Conference, talking with… Adam Miller.
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All right, Adam.
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What company you work for and what do you do?
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I'm with Titan Power.
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I'm the owner over there.
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Okay, nice.
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Yes, sir. How long you been in the industry?
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Uh, probably about, going on about 11 years.
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All right.
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Goes by fast, doesn't it?
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Yes, sir, it does.
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Okay.
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So, um, what is the best piece of advice you got when you were
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starting out in the industry?
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Let's, let's start with that one.
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Watch out for guys who travel in groups.
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Okay.
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Okay.
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M- So let's talk about the mindset behind that.
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Okay.
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What that means- Well, I had a company owner one time tell me, and there's
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a lot of things that I was told that it didn't hit me till later on.
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Yeah.
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But I had a guy tell me, he said, "Watch out for guys who travel in
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groups," he said, "because if one of them, you know, if, if one of them's
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unhappy, then all of them will leave you- Uh-huh … and they'll leave all
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your trucks and stuff." And I didn't re- I didn't recognize that, and then
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I had a, I had a situation like that.
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And like I said, that came from a guy who's owned the company eight years.
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Yep.
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You know what I mean?
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Yep.
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So it was just little things like that, you know, that, that come to
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me that… Or, like, watch for a guy that's, that's going… He was like,
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he told me, he said, "Watch." He said, "If you ever see a guy going from
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truck to truck to truck to truck," he said, "you better watch him," he said,
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"'cause he's probably a troublemaker."
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And just little things like that, you know?
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It just comes with- Isn't it wild how in the moment you don't realize that
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stuff, and then you see it and you're like, "Man, that's what he meant"?
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That's exactly what… Right.
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It's crazy.
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It takes years and it takes that experience.
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Oh, for sure, dude.
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All right, so we're out here at the OSR conference with…
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Tyler Smith.
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Tyler, who do you work for and what do you do?
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Platinum Power.
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I'm their GF.
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Okay.
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Nice.
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How many years you been in the industry?
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Uh, 15.
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Whoo.
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Getting there.
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Yep.
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Coming up on 20 real quick, I guarantee it.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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So if line work had a warning label, what would it be?
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Danger.
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Danger, all day, every day.
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Yeah, that's right.
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Heck yeah.
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All right, so we're out here today at the OSR conference, and
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we're talking with… Matt Coker.
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All right.
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So Matt, tell me who you work for and what you do.
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Uh, so I own MLC Photo Video.
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We're a production company that, um, pri- primarily focuses on helping
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businesses get content that can, um, help them build credibility, um, win
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bids, and standardize their internal, uh, and onboarding procedures.
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Man, I love that, and people don't realize how important the content aspect
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is anymore to every company, right?
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Yeah.
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So tell me about s- some cool stuff you've seen when you've
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been out there on location.
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Um, so being sent to different job sites, I've gotten to see
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a lot of different things.
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I've, I've been everything to big substations where they were building
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substations for, um, data centers, um, all the way to things that were,
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that were helicopter-based in the mountains of Virginia and Kentucky.
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And, um, yeah, the helicopter work is, it, it, it's really something fascinating.
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Watching a Black Hawk bring in a, a, a massive, uh, power pole, and then
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watching a crew of seven to eight guys work as one to, to set that
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pole is, it's, it's one of the most incredible things that I've ever seen.
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Um, and so to document it was, was a real privi- privilege.
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Yeah.
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Man, that's awesome.
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How many days were you on that job?
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Um, so that particular job, uh, that was a two-day shoot.
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That's cool.
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So I got to, to meet with the, the leadership, and, um, it, it was also
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really neat how they were watching it.
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The, the foreman actually wasn't right there with the crew.
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He was sitting on a mountain with binoculars watching, because he needed
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to see the Black Hawk coming in and, um, and be able to communicate with the crew
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everything that was going on all the time.
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And he was also up there because in the mountains there's not a lot of There's
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not a lot of good communication, so he had to relay the signals back to the LZ.
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That's a vibe.
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So the… Yeah, it, it was, it was a very interesting sight.
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People don't realize how much goes into planning those jobs out and
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what it takes to actually get them to the goal, to the finish line, right?
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Yes.
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And they're, and they're very, very expensive.
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So anytime there's, um, anytime there's a company that's doing it, they, they
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have to watch costs very, very closely because just the cost of having that,
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that helicopter and that pilot in there is… It, it, it's a huge expense.
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So everything is very well planned out.
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It's one of the most organized things that you could even see take place.
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And the pilot, um, the pilot in, on that job in particular was really fantastic.
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It was windy.
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You couldn't tell it by watching that helicopter.
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Yeah.
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So, yeah.
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It's like drinking coffee to him.
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It's just so natural, right?
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It's crazy.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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It's crazy.
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Yeah.
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So, so what's one interesting thing that you've learned with working with
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guys in the, in the line field, right?
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Because you've done several of these things.
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Um, what's one thing you've learned that's interesting of working
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with them different than other aspects, like other jobs, right?
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Um, yeah, so when- Linework, as everybody knows, is extremely dangerous.
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So the, sort of the bar for entry is a little bit higher, and so
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what that does is it sort of thins out some of the riffraff if you,
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if you might wanna call it that.
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And so one of the things you notice is that even from the,
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the apprentices that are…
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that haven't even been on a job site, they're training to get on their
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first job site, all the way to the guys that have been doing it for many
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years, the, the caliber of people and the level of serious- seriousness
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that they approach their, their trade with is, is so high that it, it's,
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it's like being around a group of people that are just really top-notch.
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And so for me, that, that was, um, that was a really cool experience.
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I sort of had to get used to that as I was getting into the field and, and that's
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how I've approached everything in my life.
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Yeah.
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So it almost felt like being around people that were like-minded
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for, for the first time.
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So- That's awesome.
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Yeah.
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That's awesome.
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Man, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today, Matt.
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Uh, if anybody wants to make some content out there in the industry,
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you need to get ahold of Matt.
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He's out there doing it, right?
00:11:09
Yeah.
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If you had a magic wand and there's one thing you could change in
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the industry tomorrow with that magic wand, what would it be?
00:11:15
Man, the realization I've came to now is that I didn't realize it when I was
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a hand, but… and it's sad to see.
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It almost, like, can get you down when you see it, but it's seeing
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these guys not care about the, the, the quality of work they do
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or care about helping the customer.
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All they're caring about is the money that they get, and I would like to see
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guys want to do a good quality job, whether they were making a million
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dollars or whether they were making $100.
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You know, that old, like I was raised, it don't make a dang if you're sweeping
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the floor or you're building a mansion.
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Do it to the best of your ability.
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And I feel like that's just becoming a lost art.
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Man.
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That's just becoming a lost value in this trade.
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You- And in the world altogether.
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Oh, for sure, right?
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Used to you'd have pride in what you did no matter what it was, right?
00:11:59
Right.
00:11:59
And now you hear the saying too, too often people say, "I can't
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see it from my house." Right.
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What do you mean you can't see it from your house?
00:12:04
Right.
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That doesn't mean anything.
00:12:04
Nah, uh.
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You should still wanna do the best thing no matter what.
00:12:07
Yeah, 'cause this is one thing I try to instill in my daughter too is, you know,
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it's who we are when nobody's around.
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That's it.
00:12:12
You know?
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100%. It's easy to be something, but who you are when nobody's around really
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is, you know, that's your integrity.
00:12:18
Yep.
00:12:18
That's who you are as a person.
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That's it, man.
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So, uh, I'd like to see a lot more of that coming back out.
00:12:22
Heck yeah.
00:12:23
Adam, appreciate it, man.
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Enjoy your time.
00:12:24
Yes, sir. Thank you.
00:12:25
We're talking with… Megan Searfoss.
00:12:27
Megan, who do you work for and what do you do?
00:12:29
I am the vice president of business development, marketing, and emergency
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restoration for Valiant Energy Service.
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So you're the one that keeps the wheels on.
00:12:38
So how long have you been in the industry?
00:12:39
Um, about 10 years now.
00:12:42
Okay.
00:12:42
So you work with linemen on a pretty regular basis.
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What's the worst thing about working with linemen?
00:12:48
How stubborn they can be.
00:12:50
Yep.
00:12:51
They stay set in their own ways all the time.
00:12:53
Absolutely.
00:12:53
Yep, yep.
00:12:53
That's fair.
00:12:54
That's fair.
00:12:54
Out here at the OSR Conference in Nashville with…
00:12:57
Brian Frye.
00:12:58
Brian, what company do you work for and what's your role?
00:13:01
OSR, and I'm the, uh, Midwest regional manager.
00:13:03
Nice.
00:13:04
All right.
00:13:04
Yeah.
00:13:04
How long you been in the industry?
00:13:06
Uh, in the industry itself, 16 years.
00:13:08
Oh, nice.
00:13:09
Okay.
00:13:09
So if line work had a warning label, what would it be?
00:13:14
Uh, I would say not for the weak.
00:13:18
Right.
00:13:19
Heck yeah, I like that one.
00:13:20
No, that's good.
00:13:21
Yep.
00:13:21
That's good.
00:13:22
So next question is what separates the best crews out there from
00:13:26
just the average crews out there?
00:13:29
Um, well, it's all gonna start with your leadership from your foreman.
00:13:32
Um, and then also communication, making sure, uh, that foreman's having good
00:13:38
communication with his crew, um, holding his crew accountable from his apprentices
00:13:43
to his groundmen, all the way up to his lead lineman that's on the crew.
00:13:46
That's right.
00:13:47
So accountability and communication are number one in my book.
00:13:50
A- and that gets overlooked so often.
00:13:53
Oh.
00:13:53
Right?
00:13:53
Yep.
00:13:54
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing in the industry
00:13:56
tomorrow, what would it be?
00:13:59
Improved safety.
00:14:00
Yeah.
00:14:00
Yeah.
00:14:00
Yeah, that's definitely something we need.
00:14:02
It's getting worse by the year instead of better.
00:14:03
It's crazy.
00:14:04
Yeah.
00:14:04
When you see the numbers that are growing every year, I mean, it drives us nuts.
00:14:08
Yeah, for sure.
00:14:09
And I'm talking with… Cindy Edwards with River City Construction.
00:14:12
All right.
00:14:13
President.
00:14:13
Perfect.
00:14:13
So how long have you been in the industry?
00:14:15
50 years.
00:14:16
We started in 1975.
00:14:18
That's amazing.
00:14:18
And a lot of things has changed in 50 years, I guarantee it.
00:14:21
A lot of things.
00:14:22
So what do you think is the hardest part about the industry?
00:14:30
Finding qualified employees, because guys will leave for, for a dollar, for a dime.
00:14:35
Um, we've had, uh, people that we would not move up because they weren't
00:14:41
qualified for the next role, and so they leave and they go to another
00:14:45
contractor, and we've actually had, um, one, one person in particular left and
00:14:50
went to another contractor 'cause we wouldn't move him up, and we found out
00:14:53
six months later he had passed away.
00:14:55
He wasn't qualified for the position he went into.
00:14:57
Oh, man.
00:14:58
Um, we, we try to, um, make sure that our guys are qualified
00:15:02
for the work they're doing.
00:15:03
Um, you know, there was a long time right there where we couldn't, um,
00:15:07
find qualified first-class linemen because they were all aging out.
00:15:11
You know, it's a good ol' boy network.
00:15:12
There just wasn't that many linemen, qualified linemen that were out there.
00:15:17
And, you know, so people were trying to move people up too quickly.
00:15:20
That had to stop.
00:15:21
So the industry itself, um, they started the line schools,
00:15:25
and line schools are great.
00:15:26
Yeah.
00:15:26
They're doing a fantastic job.
00:15:28
You know, they've got these companies that's gone out
00:15:30
there and they've started them.
00:15:31
They've got the, um, community colleges that's gone out there and start them.
00:15:34
It's been a wonderful thing.
00:15:35
So about five years ago, my thought was You know, we don't have any linemen right
00:15:39
now, but in five years we're gonna have a flood of first class linemen out there.
00:15:43
Well, that's five years.
00:15:44
So we got these first class linemen that are coming out now that are five years in.
00:15:49
Yep.
00:15:50
And they are qualified, but they still have not done all the things that those
00:15:55
tenure seasons employees have done.
00:15:56
Yeah.
00:15:57
And when I see a first … When I see a 26-year-old man in a foreman position,
00:16:02
and we may be guilty ourself of that, but when I see a 26-year-old man in a
00:16:06
foreman position, I gotta question it and say, "Has he really done everything
00:16:10
he needs to do to be leading that crew?"
00:16:12
Sometimes they have for the people or crew they put them on,
00:16:15
but it's still a scary thing.
00:16:16
So, you know, the hard- I think the hardest part is the qualified man and
00:16:20
making sure that we got the right man in there, not just because he says he
00:16:25
can do it or because he wants to do it.
00:16:26
We got, as contractors, we gotta make sure that we got, we got good
00:16:30
qualified people in those roles.
00:16:32
And sure, it's hard to find them.
00:16:34
And that is so important.
00:16:35
I think a lot of people feel that pain in the industry right now, and
00:16:37
it, it shows in the numbers, right?
00:16:39
2025 was one of the worst years for fatalities and injuries that we've seen.
00:16:43
Yeah.
00:16:43
And that plays a role in it, unfortunately.
00:16:45
All right.
00:16:46
Out here today at the OSR Conference and I'm talking with
00:16:48
Ashton Schultz.
00:16:49
All right, Ashton.
00:16:50
So what company do you work for and what's your role?
00:16:52
Yellow Creek Tree and Line Management, and I manage over all
00:16:55
the operations of the company.
00:16:56
Okay.
00:16:56
How long you been in the industry?
00:16:58
Six years.
00:16:58
Oh, cool.
00:16:59
Right.
00:16:59
All right.
00:17:00
So what is one of the biggest challenges you have between managing the company
00:17:04
and working with the people in the field?
00:17:06
Making sure I know each one of my guys and their families on top of
00:17:09
still managing the entire company.
00:17:11
So it's, it's hard to find a company that wants to be real with their people
00:17:13
still and make it a human factor, right?
00:17:15
Right.
00:17:15
That's pretty awesome.
00:17:16
Glad you guys do that.
00:17:17
All right.
00:17:17
Out here at the OSR Conference we're talking with
00:17:19
Uh, Roper Garer with PowerLine Consultants, and I'm a company manager.
00:17:22
Okay.
00:17:22
How long have you been in the industry?
00:17:23
Uh, for a little bit over 10 years now.
00:17:25
Okay.
00:17:26
So you see the company side and the field side whenever you're doing that.
00:17:29
What's the hardest challenge about coordinating those two together?
00:17:32
I'd say, uh, kind of bringing them both together.
00:17:34
Uh, I've had the fortunate, uh, ability to be in the field and in the office so
00:17:39
I can kind of see things on both ends that a lot of guys can't see, logistics
00:17:42
to, um, everything like that, and I like to try to bring that communication,
00:17:46
'cause I think communication is key, and bringing it together as best as possible.
00:17:49
Nice.
00:17:49
Heck yeah.
00:17:50
If you don't talk about it, it's not gonna get fixed, right?
00:17:52
Oh, yeah.
00:17:52
If you're gonna pick between distribution or transmission, what are you picking?
00:17:55
Always distribution.
00:17:56
Dude, I … Once you do distribution, it gets in your blood.
00:17:59
Yeah.
00:17:59
I'm the same way.
00:18:00
Absolutely.
00:18:00
Yeah.
00:18:01
If you could pick between distribution or transmission work, what are you picking?
00:18:05
I love distribution more 'cause that's what I did mostly.
00:18:07
Yep, me too.
00:18:08
Transmission is fun- Yep … 'cause you're getting stuff stuck and you're
00:18:11
getting it pulled out, so- It's just not the same though, right?
00:18:13
… that's kind of why I got in this trade.
00:18:14
No, but I love distribution.
00:18:15
Yeah.
00:18:15
Distribution some- for something about distribution, it just has
00:18:17
that satisfaction at the end of it.
00:18:19
When you get it done, you can look back and like, "Oh yeah,
00:18:20
I did awesome," like that.
00:18:21
I don't know.
00:18:22
Yes sir. Yes sir. I'm the same way.
00:18:23
If you could wave a magic wand, change one thing in the industry
00:18:26
tomorrow, what would it be?
00:18:27
Safety.
00:18:28
Yeah.
00:18:28
100%. Yeah, we need to focus more.
00:18:30
There needs to be- Yeah … more accountability around it, right?
00:18:31
For sure.
00:18:32
Appreciate you.
00:18:32
Have a good time, man.
00:18:33
Thank you.
00:18:33
Yeah.
00:18:33
If you could wave a magic wand tomorrow and change one thing about
00:18:36
your industry, what would it be?
00:18:38
I would take out the companies that are not legitimate companies and
00:18:41
make sure that they are going out there for the safety of their guys
00:18:44
and not just going out for money.
00:18:46
Heck yeah.
00:18:46
Get rid of the ones that aren't doing it the right way, right?
00:18:48
That's right.
00:18:48
Perfect.
00:18:49
Thank you so much.
00:18:50
All right.
00:18:50
Thank you.
00:18:50
Yeah.
00:18:51
Distribution or transmission, if you could pick, right?
00:18:52
Oh, I would definitely pick distribution.
00:18:54
Yeah, every time?
00:18:55
Every time.
00:18:55
I'm a distribution guy myself.
00:18:57
Me too.
00:18:57
I, I don't like the big heavy transmission stuff myself.
00:18:59
It's, it's a lot.
00:18:59
Me either, and I like the challenges of the distribution.
00:19:01
For sure.
00:19:02
For sure.
00:19:03
And then, um, at the end of the day, what does doing the job right mean to you?
00:19:07
So at the end of the day, doing the job right means to me is doing
00:19:10
it safe, doing everything correct so all my men can go home and see
00:19:14
their families and, and grandkids.
00:19:16
That's it, man.
00:19:17
That's the number one thing, getting home.
00:19:18
Just being a human and making sure- Yeah … you're doing the right
00:19:20
things when you're at work, right?
00:19:21
And doing it once.
00:19:22
Heck yeah.
00:19:23
Heck yeah.
00:19:23
We appreciate you, man.
00:19:24
I appreciate it.
00:19:24
Thank you.
00:19:24
Yeah.
00:19:25
Thank you for everything.
00:19:26
All right, out here at the OSR conference talking to…
00:19:29
Andy.
00:19:29
All right.
00:19:30
So tell me who you work for and what you do.
00:19:33
Yep.
00:19:33
I'm a partner at Powerline Connect.
00:19:34
We're a software company that basically supports all the storm companies
00:19:38
here trying to get their rosters out faster, more accurate, and get the
00:19:41
power back on for everybody else.
00:19:42
And I think a lot of people underestimate the chaos that happens
00:19:45
with that part of the industry, right?
00:19:47
Mm-hmm.
00:19:47
Mm-hmm.
00:19:47
So talk to me about what it's like working with that part of the industry versus
00:19:50
some other customer that you might have, because the deadlines are really quick,
00:19:54
and I know it's not the same everywhere.
00:19:57
Sure.
00:19:58
Look, I, I give credit to everybody, whether it's with software or without,
00:20:01
everybody seems to have found a way to make it work in their particular shop.
00:20:04
Obviously, we push a certain way that we think h- makes our life easier, but
00:20:08
everyone has found a way, and I think the reason why that's possible in this
00:20:11
industry, even though it's chaos in the streets and when this is happening,
00:20:15
the whole industry's really tight-knit.
00:20:17
And so everybody's in it together.
00:20:18
There's a certain camaraderie.
00:20:19
There's a certain energy.
00:20:20
Everybody helps each other out.
00:20:21
And when you have that, that usually solves 90% of the problems.
00:20:23
Yeah, that's exactly right.
00:20:24
And you don't find that just anywhere, so it is pretty niche
00:20:26
to our industry, for sure.
00:20:28
Absolutely.
00:20:28
So what's one of the most interesting things you've seen
00:20:31
while you've been doing this, right?
00:20:33
Oh my goodness, tons.
00:20:34
So for me, it's the fact that, you know, where I come from, we lived
00:20:38
in a small town, and there was a divide between the blue collar
00:20:40
folks and the white collar folks.
00:20:41
And we, me and Dan have been friends for a long time.
00:20:44
I was an immigrant to Canada when I was a kid.
00:20:46
He was a hockey player.
00:20:47
We're now the two founding partners of Powerline Connect.
00:20:48
Okay.
00:20:49
And it's just so nice to be able to see a place where there is none of that.
00:20:52
It's do you do good work?
00:20:53
Do you work for me?
00:20:54
You see linemen who are now CEOs.
00:20:56
You see folks who have never been in the industry like myself who
00:20:58
are being welcomed with open arms.
00:21:00
It's all about… It's, it's almost like because the industry is so
00:21:03
small, it polices itself, and if you have good character and you do
00:21:06
good work, the rest is solved, and I think that's a very nice thing.
00:21:09
It brings everybody together.
00:21:10
Heck yeah, man.
00:21:11
That's great.
00:21:11
We appreciate you being here today.
00:21:12
Heck yeah.
00:21:13
Thanks, Ryan.
00:21:13
Yeah.
00:21:13
Thank you.
00:21:13
Cheers.
00:21:14
If you could change one thing in the industry, wave a magic wand,
00:21:16
change one thing in the industry tomorrow, what would it be?
00:21:20
Losing all the knowledge with the guys that are retiring.
00:21:23
Yeah.
00:21:23
That's, that, that will help the culture.
00:21:24
Being able to pass that along.
00:21:25
Yeah.
00:21:25
Help the culture.
00:21:26
Yeah, 'cause 30 years ago when you started in the industry, I'm sure you were,
00:21:30
you were a lot like a lot of people.
00:21:32
Your lead man, your foreman- Oh … had 25, 30 years in, right?
00:21:35
Oh, yeah.
00:21:36
Now these guys are foreman with two years of experience in, so we're
00:21:39
missing a lot of that experience and, and knowledge in that role.
00:21:43
Could you, can you agree with that?
00:21:44
I can because we got a lot of guys that turn journeyman lineman,
00:21:48
and all that ticket does is just say that you can teach somebody.
00:21:52
Yeah.
00:21:52
Doesn't mean you know everything, and we all don't wanna work with a
00:21:55
guy that knows everything, right?
00:21:56
No, that's for sure.
00:21:57
So- That's for sure
00:21:58
and, uh, it's, it's, the culture needs to change a little.
00:22:01
Yeah.
00:22:01
Yeah, for sure.
00:22:02
And it, it's getting there.
00:22:03
We just gotta keep talking about it, right?
00:22:04
Correct.
00:22:05
Yeah.
00:22:05
So last question for you.
00:22:07
30 years in the industry, I'm hear- sure you've heard a lot of excuses.
00:22:10
Oh, yeah.
00:22:10
What's the worst excuse you've ever heard for somebody not showing up to a job?
00:22:14
Uh, Father's Day- Okay … in August.
00:22:18
You know, that math doesn't math real well, does it?
00:22:20
Yeah.
00:22:21
I really appreciate you being here, man.
00:22:22
Thank you.
00:22:22
Thank you.
00:22:22
Have a good one.
00:22:23
Yeah.
00:22:23
What's the worst excuse you've ever had from somebody for not showing up to a job?
00:22:29
'Cause these linemen do it all the time.
00:22:34
I had somebody call and say, "I'm gonna be an hour and a half late," 'cause they
00:22:38
had to go chase their neighbor's dog.
00:22:40
Okay.
00:22:40
Their neighbor's dog.
00:22:41
Okay.
00:22:41
Yeah.
00:22:42
They must really like their neighbor.
00:22:43
I, I- Yeah … maybe.
00:22:45
Yeah.
00:22:45
Don't know if it was a man- Can't ask questions, right?
00:22:46
… or a fe- female neighbor.
00:22:47
I don't know.
00:22:48
Oh, that's awesome.
00:22:49
I haven't heard that one before, so that is a good one.
00:22:51
So last question is, if you could wave a magic wand and change one thing in
00:22:55
the industry tomorrow, what would it be?
00:22:58
Compassion for all humans that work together, no matter your
00:23:00
classification, no matter your ticket, no matter your training,
00:23:03
how smart you are, how dumb you are.
00:23:05
We're all different people, but we're all here to see the same thing.
00:23:07
I think just compassion for your next m- your next man, your next worker, your
00:23:10
next woman, whoever's there with you.
00:23:11
Heck yeah.
00:23:12
I think it's just compassion.
00:23:12
Be a human being.
00:23:13
People, man.
00:23:14
Yes.
00:23:14
Humans.
00:23:14
Heck yeah.
00:23:16
Humans rule, bro.
00:23:16
Appreciate you, man.
00:23:16
Thanks.
00:23:16
Thank you so much.
00:23:17
Appreciate it.
00:23:17
Heck yeah.
00:23:17
If you could wave a magic wand tomorrow and change one thing about
00:23:20
the industry, what would it be?
00:23:22
The fatalities are bad.
00:23:24
You don't ever, you don't ever wanna have to go to that family and, you
00:23:28
know, and tell 'em, I, I, the… I went the, to a lady one time, and I went to
00:23:31
her house, and I was there to tell her that her, that her husband had been
00:23:35
killed in, on storm work actually.
00:23:36
Mm-hmm.
00:23:39
And I walked in and she was on the phone and she's like, "I can't get up with him.
00:23:43
He won't answer his phone." And I had to go in, I had to tell her, "Honey, he's
00:23:47
not gonna answer his phone." And that was the worst thing I've ever had to do.
00:23:51
I guarantee it.
00:23:51
So I guess I would probably say that you never have to make that call again
00:23:54
or go tell that family that again.
00:23:56
But, um, you know, w- w- you know, during this conference everybody's
00:24:00
talking about, um, money, you know, we're all chasing a dollar.
00:24:04
You know, we've been on bid jo- or we've been in bid scenarios where
00:24:08
it feels like the utility is just trying to get us down to zero.
00:24:12
Yep.
00:24:13
And so, you know, everybody's trying to do what they can do to survive, you
00:24:16
know, and the linemen think that the, the contractors are making all the
00:24:19
money and the contractors think that the utilities are making all the money.
00:24:22
And probably getting back to what, what we were talking about, if, you
00:24:27
know, if we could truly open up a, a, a, have an open communication with the
00:24:31
contractors and the utilities and really talk about it, I don't know if it's
00:24:36
possible because, you know, in the end, you know, the green's leading everybody.
00:24:40
Yeah.
00:24:41
But, um, if we could, if we could just be honest with each other and open and
00:24:46
really communicate about it, that, that would probably be the be- and listen.
00:24:50
Yeah.
00:24:50
You know, communicating is one thing, but actually listening and taking back,
00:24:54
you know, what we're talking about because we all have the same heart.
00:24:57
100%. We all have the same heart.
00:24:59
We all love this stuff.
00:25:00
Yeah.
00:25:00
Yeah.
00:25:00
It's a passion, right?
00:25:01
It's a passion.
00:25:02
It's a passion.
00:25:02
It's hit me so hard I've been, I've been in there crying.
00:25:05
Yeah.
00:25:06
Yeah.
00:25:06
It, it is a lot and it'd be awesome to see fatalities stop
00:25:08
tomorrow with that magic wand.
00:25:09
Yeah.
00:25:09
That'd be great.
00:25:10
But it's gonna take that coming together and those conversations that everybody's
00:25:13
been too scared to have up till now.
00:25:15
Yeah.
00:25:15
Right?
00:25:15
And it's not just, it's not just the upper management and the owners and, and
00:25:21
it's not just us- Oh, no … that needs to stop, it's the guy- It's them in the
00:25:23
field too … it's the guy in the field and, and one of the, one of the… I've
00:25:26
heard the question asked that, you know, what do we do to, to make them feel
00:25:30
the responsibility that we feel for it?
00:25:32
And I don't know what that is and I, I think that's the
00:25:35
conversation we need to have.
00:25:36
Yeah.
00:25:36
Yeah.
00:25:37
I just think so.
00:25:37
I think that'd be great.
00:25:38
Yeah.
00:25:38
Thanks for your time.
00:25:39
I hope you enjoy it.
00:25:39
All right.
00:25:40
We're out here at the OSR Conference in Nashville with… Jimmy Kent.
00:25:45
Tammy Kent.
00:25:46
All right.
00:25:47
So let's, uh, tell everybody what you guys do here, right?
00:25:51
At the conference or in general?
00:25:52
No, in general.
00:25:53
Okay.
00:25:54
So in general, we own ATK Energy Group.
00:25:57
We own Victory Power Line Services.
00:25:59
OSR, Axiom Engineering, ATK- ATKL … ATK Logistics, uh, Stratic,
00:26:06
Nomad Power Group, K5Line, and KUS, and Location Design Group.
00:26:11
And a wedding barn, a wedding and venue, and a hunting venue.
00:26:15
And Kent Farms and- … a nail and hair salon.
00:26:18
Yeah.
00:26:19
My first question for you guys is we're out here at the conference,
00:26:21
this was your guys' brainchild, what were you thinking when you first
00:26:24
started this and when was that?
00:26:27
Three years ago.
00:26:29
Okay.
00:26:29
So we started out three years ago for, um, you know, we just wanted to get
00:26:34
the vendors and the owners of these companies to connect and have a good
00:26:37
relationship and, you know, help out the vendors and, uh, you know, help
00:26:42
out the owners of these companies.
00:26:44
So, uh, we pulled everybody together, and these are our contractors
00:26:49
that work for us during the storm.
00:26:51
So, uh, you know, we wanted to pull them together.
00:26:53
It's an information meeting.
00:26:54
We go over some information.
00:26:55
Uh, we talk about… Like today, we talked about Not One More, and, uh, had Tracy
00:27:01
Moore on, and, and Kevin, um- Robinson?
00:27:05
Yeah.
00:27:05
Yeah.
00:27:05
Yep.
00:27:06
Had him on.
00:27:07
So, you know, we've had some really good conversations about safety.
00:27:10
So- Yeah, and you know, we wanted to help out our contractor partners.
00:27:16
Let's get them in front of vendors that are gonna sell them the tools they need,
00:27:20
and the services that they need, and the trucks, and just everything that's
00:27:23
gonna make them better and stronger.
00:27:24
And you know, a lot of our contractors are smaller, so let's help them out.
00:27:28
Let's, let's get them in front of the same people that we're seeing.
00:27:30
And you go to these humongous conferences, and you just don't get that one-on-one.
00:27:34
So for the vendors, it was a smaller venue.
00:27:37
They got a lot of one-on-one.
00:27:38
And we started three years ago.
00:27:40
Our first one was in Oklahoma.
00:27:41
Last year, Kansas City.
00:27:43
This year, Nashville, and it has tripled in size, and everyone seems to
00:27:49
have really enjoyed it, the content.
00:27:50
And they get one-on-one time with the owners.
00:27:53
They get one-on-one time with our executive team, with the regional manager.
00:27:57
It's just really a win-win.
00:27:58
And we get- And seeing yours truly, Thomas Grims- Yeah.
00:28:01
I don't know if that's a win or not … and his beautiful wife.
00:28:02
Yeah.
00:28:02
Yeah.
00:28:02
That's it.
00:28:04
Yep.
00:28:05
So w- what I thought was pretty cool about this conference, so I've
00:28:08
been here for the last two years now, and it's a lot of alignment.
00:28:12
You guys give people the opportunity to ask questions, bring up issues that
00:28:17
they're having, talk about problems, or if it's culture, or if it's timeframes,
00:28:22
or whatever they're struggling with, and you guys can talk through that.
00:28:24
And you, you do that openly in front of everybody, and you just
00:28:27
don't see that anywhere else, right?
00:28:28
So whose idea was that?
00:28:30
That was Tammy's.
00:28:31
Yeah.
00:28:32
I was gonna say.
00:28:32
Yeah, that's probably mine.
00:28:34
Yeah.
00:28:34
I'm very transparent.
00:28:35
I'm very vocal.
00:28:36
You know, I had a contractor when we were leaving today.
00:28:39
She was like, "I really wish I would've asked a question."
00:28:41
I said, "Well, what is it?" She said, "When we mobilize on storm, we have
00:28:44
utilities send us these apps, and they want us to do our onboarding, our
00:28:48
safety training, our safety onboarding on the way as we're driving." Uh-
00:28:53
Yeah … that's opposite messages.
00:28:54
You're wanting everyone in that is mobilizing to that
00:28:59
storm to do this training.
00:29:00
Someone's gotta drive.
00:29:01
We're hands-free.
00:29:01
We're focused on getting there, and safety, and all of that.
00:29:04
And I assured her that I'm meeting with that utility next week, and
00:29:07
I will take that feedback back to them because not everyone in this
00:29:11
industry, uh, is willing to have that open conversation with that utility.
00:29:16
And listen, I don't wanna make them mad, but they need to hear.
00:29:19
They don't realize that the burden they're putting on a contractor
00:29:22
because they're o- they, they don't necessarily see the end result.
00:29:26
That's it.
00:29:26
That's it.
00:29:27
Yeah.
00:29:27
And, and you know, there's so much going on at one time, it, it's hard for them to
00:29:31
even realize that, oh, we sent them, we sent that to them while they're driving.
00:29:35
And if no one tells them that kind of stuff, they don't, they don't know, right?
00:29:38
Yeah.
00:29:38
So that communication and that, that line of, of just talking about stuff
00:29:42
is, is huge, and you guys are really good about making sure that happens.
00:29:45
So, uh, we're also doing some fundraising while we're here, right?
00:29:48
So who's the benefit of the fundraising this year?
00:29:50
Yep, so Climbing for Kids, which is Jason and Jennifer Novak's
00:29:54
foundation, which benefits St. Jude's.
00:29:57
So, um, Jason and Jennifer, Jason works, he's out of 702 for MidAmerican
00:30:02
in Illinois, had a coworker who lost their child to childhood cancer, and it
00:30:07
really touched their entire organization.
00:30:10
And so we started a couple years ago.
00:30:12
Last year we raised $30.
00:30:14
Our goal this year is 50.
00:30:15
So all the raffles and tomorrow's Topgolf event, every bit of that
00:30:19
proceeds will go to that organization.
00:30:21
Ooh, that is awesome.
00:30:22
Awesome.
00:30:22
I can't think of a better situation, right?
00:30:24
Yeah.
00:30:24
Yep.
00:30:25
All right.
00:30:25
Well, I, I want to tell you guys thank you for the event.
00:30:27
I think it's going really good, and you guys have any last
00:30:30
words for the people listening?
00:30:31
I do.
00:30:33
Tom has done a great job with his podcast.
00:30:38
Podcast.
00:30:38
I appreciate it.
00:30:38
Boo for Mr. Kent.
00:30:38
I keep wanting to call it something else, but- Boo for
00:30:41
Mr. Kent … I, yeah, I get it.
00:30:42
But, uh, he's doing a great job bringing this stuff out in the industry.
00:30:46
And, uh, any time he calls and wants to interview any of you guys, uh, he makes
00:30:51
it easy for you, keeps you at ease.
00:30:54
Awesome guy.
00:30:55
I appreciate that, Jimmy.
00:30:56
Well, and I love, you talk about our transparency, I love your transparency.
00:31:00
You talk about the tough issues.
00:31:02
Yeah.
00:31:02
You talk about what folks don't really wanna talk about.
00:31:05
They want somebody to talk about it.
00:31:06
To- They don't wanna be the one to talk about it.
00:31:08
So I love that you take everything we've discussed together or is on your
00:31:12
heart and on your mind, you put it out there, and that's what we have to do.
00:31:16
To not have one, not one more, we gotta talk about the tough issues.
00:31:20
That's it.
00:31:20
Good.
00:31:20
So.
00:31:20
And that's, if, if you don't talk about it, you're not gonna change things, right?
00:31:23
We're not gonna change it.
00:31:24
All right.
00:31:24
Gotta- Appreciate you guys.
00:31:25
Thank you.
00:31:26
Thank you, man.
00:31:26
Appreciate it.
00:31:26
Yeah.
00:31:27
Thank you.
00:31:27
Yeah, you're awesome.
00:31:28
We're talking with… Chad Clark.
00:31:29
Uh- Chad, who do you work for and what do you do?
00:31:32
I'm a co-owner of Gridline Power, and I'm a journeyman lineman.
00:31:35
Nice.
00:31:36
How long you been in the industry?
00:31:37
Uh, I've been in the id- industry for 30 years, but the business for three.
00:31:41
30 years, man, that's awesome.
00:31:42
It's a long time.
00:31:42
It's changed a lot.
00:31:43
It has.
00:31:44
So over 30 years, what would you say is the hardest part
00:31:47
about working with linemen?
00:31:48
Uh, their personalities, trying to deal with everybody's personalities.
00:31:50
Yeah.
00:31:51
Their personalities are like, like a box of crayons.
00:31:52
Yes.
00:31:53
They're all over the place, right?
00:31:54
Yes, they are.
00:31:54
Yeah, I agree with that 100%.
00:31:56
As we wrap up this special episode, we wanna thank the team at OSR
00:31:59
for inviting Power Grid Talks to be a part of the conversation.
00:32:03
What stood out most wasn't just the speakers or the sessions, it was
00:32:06
the willingness of people from every corner of the industry to have honest
00:32:10
conversations about the challenges we're facing and the opportunities ahead.
00:32:14
If you're fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the
00:32:16
2027 OSR Conference, take it.
00:32:19
Show up, get involved, ask questions, and build relationships.
00:32:23
That's what these events are all about.
00:32:26
And the more events like this we have that are helping move our industry forward,
00:32:29
the better off we're all gonna be.
00:32:32
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on the next episode of Power Grid Talks.
00:32:36
That's it for today's episode of Power Grid Talks, from the
00:32:40
bucket trucks to the boardrooms.
00:32:42
I'm your host, Tom Williamson.
00:32:44
I want to thank you for joining me as we talk to the people behind the
00:32:47
scenes who keep our grid strong.
00:32:49
If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to hit that subscribe button, give
00:32:53
it a share, and leave a review so we can keep bringing more voices from across the
00:32:57
utility world to the conversation table.
00:33:00
You can also find us at powergridtalks.com.
00:33:04
Until next time, stay safe and keep the power flowing