SPU’s Journeyman Crew take top honors competing against other utilities (less than 30,000 customers) in the 2026 APPA Lineworkers Rodeo. Sixty-one journeyman teams and 136 apprentices competed from across the United States.
The “rodeo” is a series of competitive events demonstrating lineworker skills and safe work practices. The Journeyman events include: URD New Install 12KV, Storm Restoration, OCR Replacement, Pin and Insulator Change Out 12KV and Hurtman Rescue.
The awards honor lineworkers’ expertise and the events are judged based on safety, work practices, neatness, ability, equipment handling, and timely event completion.
This year, APPA introduced new competition categories for the Journeyman and Apprentice competitions: small utilities (under 30,000 customers), medium utilities (30,000-99,999 customers), and large utilities (100,000+ customers). These categories offer small and medium-sized utilities the chance to showcase their skills, encourage wider participation, and create a fairer competitive environment by grouping utilities with similar resources.
SPU’s Journeyman Team included Matt Kahle, Tyler Hanson and Jack Schintz.
To learn more, visit: publicpower.org and search “rodeo”.
