Day in the life of a lineman
By Laura Spellman
As the waking sun begins to rise, a cool, crisp gust of wind races through frozen tree branches in the early winter morning. VEC utility poles, which power every need of our rural communities, are proudly nestled in the Benton, TN mountain ranges. From the warmth of the indoors, residents of Benton begin their day. A mother greets her dreaming child with a soft, glowing hallway light. A few doors down, a dairy farmer prepares his electric milking machine that will aid in supplying hundreds with nutrition, and at a local school, a teacher powers on her computer that will help shape the young minds of the next generation. In the distance, the sound of VEC electrical trucks can be heard eagerly gliding up a harsh, narrow roadway.
Four utility vehicles, two substation equipment technicians, and five VEC linemen are on their way to maintaining reliability for VEC members. Today, their assignment is to replace multiple 6H hydraulic reclosers with new, advanced Viper solid dielectric three phase reclosers, which help protect against overcurrent issues from downline faults and extend maintenance cycles.
Though temperatures have yet to surpass fifteen degrees, and the wind chill only adds to the bitter cold, this is a typical morning for a lineman. Equipped with thick, flame-resistant clothing; bulky, rubber gloves; and a VEC hard hat that serves as a reminder of the cooperative values upheld each day, the linemen prepare to rough the elements.
At the job site, the men are briefed on the project, then split to accomplish their individual duties. Linemen Tanner Swann and Trevor Cartwright suit up in harnesses in a way that mimics soldiers preparing for battle. Exchanging wisecracks with each other, they tell me, “We spend more time with these guys than we do with our own families. This is a brotherhood.”
Cautiously preparing project materials, foreman Kody Hampton relays instructions to his team and continuously watches to ensure their safety. Fog fills the air with each breath he exhales, frost forms on his dark beard, and his overalls are damp from the morning mist. For him, the frigid environment has become second nature. “Working in the elements is just part of the trade,” he says, adjusting his hard hat. “We have to maintain the mindset that we may be working in extreme weather conditions and have to prepare accordingly.”
Beyond the weather conditions, linemen often miss their kids’ birthdays, holidays, snow days, and weekends. Even on beautiful days, they don’t have the luxury of enjoying the weather, if the power goes out. Hampton tells me a story about his family and lights up as he shows me a video of his wife and young son, who is learning to walk. “It’s our duty and our promise to the members to get power restored as quickly as possible, even if it means spending time away from our loved ones.”
The sound of tools echoes throughout the mountain as Swann and Cartwright work from buckets elevated about 50 feet above the ground. After securing orange rubber blankets, which protect against electric shock, to power lines, the linemen work at disconnecting the 6H hydraulic recloser.
By midmorning, the equipment is disconnected and lowered to the ground. Equipment operator Tony Wilson uses a line truck to carefully lift a new, cutting-edge Viper solid dielectric three phase recloser to be mounted onto the utility pole.
Keeping watch on the linemen from the ground, Hampton recalls some of the more complex projects he has been a part of throughout his career. “When I worked as a contract lineman, we would travel to work the aftermath of natural disasters, like hurricanes. Most times, we would drive down a couple of days before the storm and wait it out in a hotel room.” He walks to and from his service truck retrieving supplies for his fellow crew members. “On one occasion, we sat through a hurricane in an ice hockey rink. The wind was so strong, palm trees were bending over and touching the ground.”
Beyond disaster relief, everyday obstacles present themselves as well. For example, the team recalls the day they hiked a mountain for four hours, carrying 50 pounds of equipment because the power pole they needed to reach was inaccessible by truck.
The most challenging project Hampton says he has worked on during his six years at VEC, however, was the aftermath of a storm in early spring of 2024. “In the Benton area alone, there were 47 spans of wire down and nine broken poles, which took three days of working around the clock to repair,” he tells me. One of the most catastrophic events in VEC history, the storm he is referring to occurred May 9, 2024, and resulted in 22,413 accounts being without power. Primarily affecting the southern parts of VEC’s service territory, the storm resulted in 40 broken poles across Bradley, Hamilton and Polk counties. Additional VEC line crews and contract crews, including Service Electric and Marable-Pirkle Services (MPS), were also dispatched to aid in restoration. By the night of May 10, the exhausted linemen had reduced outages to 2,500 accounts, and all power had been restored by May 11, only two days after the initial storm.
The profession is clearly physically demanding, but it also takes a mental and emotional toll on lineworkers. In addition to restoring power, linemen also serve as first responders. They are dispatched to every local house fire and are often the first on the scene of vehicular accidents. VEC linemen have performed life-saving CPR, carried the wounded to safety, and used machinery to lift heavy objects from trapped victims. The devastation they witness cuts deep, but it reminds them of why they pursued the career to begin with—to serve others.
In the afternoon, after approximately five hours of teamwork, the equipment has been replaced. With flushed cheeks and frozen limbs, the Benton line crew finish the job and prepare to travel to their next assignments. In separate vehicles traveling different directions, they are all connected by the same navy blue stitched “VEC” lettering and common purpose—to keep the lights on.
Line workers’ days are often unpredictable. After a day’s work, they may have the luxury of going home to enjoy family time, or they may be called upon to restore power in rain, sleet, snow, hail or other extreme conditions. No matter the situation, VEC linemen ensure members are provided with reliable and efficient service as quickly and safely as possible.
As the sun sets and the day concludes, the headlights of VEC line trucks illuminate the sleeping town of Benton. Keeping watch and standing ready for any possible outages, the linemen are prepared to answer the dangerous yet rewarding call of linework. Whether power outages are from car accidents, natural disasters or other tragedies, what is often someone’s worst day is simply just another day in the life of a lineman.
