For our 110th episode of the Line Life Podcast, we are highlighting David Hernandez, the regional operations supervisor at Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC). He worked for Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC) for 22 years before he joined PEC in 2020.

In this interview, recorded at the 2024 International Lineman's Expo, he discusses how he first got involved with the Rodeo in 2000 and became hooked. At the 2024 competition, he and his journeyman team finished fourth place in the REA division at the International Lineman's Rodeo.

He also described what it was like transitioning from a journeyman lineworker to a supervisor in the line trade and how he is keeping his crews safe in the field.

To learn more about David, read the Lineworker Focus department on our website. If you would like to nominate a journeyman lineworker or field supervisor for this department, email Amy Fischbach, T&D World Field Editor and host of the Line Life Podcast. We look forward to hearing from you!

In the line trade, storm restoration is a part of the job. Lineworkers work through the night in severe weather conditions to rebuild infrastructure and restore power. In our May 2025 issue of T&D World, we featured the story, "Entergy Shares Strategies for Storm Response," to highlight best practices. The article, which was written by Bill Perry, explores four tactics for better restoration from Entergy's 2024 hurricane season.

To learn more, you can read the article on the T&D World website or check it out in the May 2025 print issue.

T&D World's Faces of the Future department highlights up-and-comers in the line trade. For this week's episode, we are highlighting Vincent Napolitano, an apprentice for Ameren Illinois and a competitor at the International Lineman's Rodeo. During his apprenticeship, he is learning new things every day and also helping others who are just starting in the line trade. He trains both in the classroom and the field and works out of the operating center in Peoria, Illinois. His crew specializes in overhead and underground and works mainly on distribution. When storms hit, he focuses on troubleshooting, and when he tops out as a journeyman, he may be interested in assisting with mutual assistance calls.

To prepare for the International Lineman's Rodeo in 2024, he trained with other apprentices to take practice tests and test his skills alongside the journeymen on the training grounds. In the future, he wants to stay out in the field, and he says the crews he works with are like a family.

To learn more about Vincent, you can read the Faces of the Future department in our June 2025 T&D World print magazine and soon on our website. Also, if you are an apprentice lineworker who is interested in being profiled, fill out this online form and email a photo of you by a bucket truck, competing at the Rodeo or working out in the field to Amy Fischbach, Field Editor of T&D World magazine and host of the Line Life Podcast. Journeymen lineworkers are featured in our Lineworker Focus department and need to fill out this online form. All featured lineworkers receive a free tool package from Milwaukee Tool for their dedication to the line trade.