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.

For our latest episode in our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast, we are airing the audio story, "Investigating Power Line RFI," from the May 2025 field-focused Electric Utility Operations section in the T&D World print magazine. In this article, Jon Backman, a journeyman lineworker with 20 years of experience in the line trade, shares strategies on how lineworkers can find and eliminate the noise. Because power companies have the legal responsibility to respond to RFI issues caused by their system, their lineworkers can become trained in RFI troubleshooting to perform these investigations properly.

As a first response troubleman for his utility, Jon responds to power outages, electrical emergencies, public safety concerns and customer needs. At one point during his career, he was offered the opportunity to work as an RFI responder, and in this role, he has had the opportunity to learn and evolve. In this audio story, he describes his experiences with training and troubleshooting and also offers seven steps to investigating RFI location.

For more information about Jon, who is also the founder of Making Connections, LLC, listen to the episode, "Working as a Troubleman in the Pacific Northwest," or read his profile on the T&D World website.

If you would like to share your story in T&D World magazine or be featured on the Line Life Podcast, email Field Editor Amy Fischbach, host of the Line Life Podcast.