Power for Progress: Rodeo Recap

Climbing to new heights
A lineman participates in the 2023 Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma (MESO) Lineworker’s Rodeo & Training in Bentonville, Arkansas, in mid-September.

Power for Progress…

  A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

Rodeo Recap

The Oklahoma men and women who maintain the power lines for our state’s public power electric utilities came together in Bentonville, Arkansas in mid-September for two days of competition and comradery. Most importantly, they came together for the sake of safety and education.

It was the 2023 Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma (MESO) Lineworker’s Rodeo & Training, an annual event that allows these lineworkers to put their skills to the test in a friendly competition setting, while also providing the opportunity to practice teamwork across all participating public power utilities. That helps promote education and helps prepare them for those critical times when mutual aid projects are necessary, following natural disasters, and other events that may impact the energy delivery system.

During the competition, they climb poles, splice damaged lines, change fuses, conduct simulated “hurt man” rescue operations and work together in other ways. That “working together” is the key.

Of course, all the public power utilities represented at the “rodeo” are owned by the customers they serve, allowing for local control, not-for-profit rates and local resources that match local needs in the hometowns they serve. However, when Oklahoma weather gets ugly – tornados, ice storms, flooding – those small local systems can be hit hard and, often, that means the job of rebuilding, replacement and repairs is accomplished with the help of other public power crews across the state.

GRDA is proud of our team for not only participating but also helping to facilitate this important annual event.  We are also proud to be a part of the greater Oklahoma public power team and the work it is doing every day to keep the lights on across the state.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.