The City of Stillwater Electric Utility (SEU) participated and placed in eight events at the 2017 Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma (MESO) Lineworkers Rodeo and Safety Training in Chouteau this fall.
The MESO Lineworkers Rodeo is an event for lineworkers and apprentices to test their skills in various areas of line work and provides an opportunity to develop new skills.
Activities at the rodeo include mutual aid, team and individual events such as speed climbing, obstacle courses and hurt man rescue.
SEU sent three teams to the competition. See awards below.
Apprentice Team
- Austin Mills – 1st Place, Hurt Man Rescue; 1st Place, Speed Climb; 2nd Place, Obstacle Course
- Mitch Vanzandt – 1st Place, Obstacle Course
Journeyman Team
- Team One
- Dusty Baker – 1st Place, 4KV Insulator Change Out; 2nd Place, 4KV Switch Change
- Michael McNamer – 1st Place, 4KV Insulator Change Out; 2nd Place, 4KV Switch Change
- Michael Ramsey – 1st Place, 4KV Insulator Change Out; 2nd Place, 4KV Switch Change
- Team Two
- Jerry Cundiff – 2nd Place, 12KV Insulator Change Out
- Seth Gibson – 2nd Place, 12KV Insulator Change Out; 3rd Place, Hurt Man Rescue
- Aaron Williamson – 2nd Place, 12KV Insulator Change Out
According to the American Public Power Association (APPA), customers of public power utilities like Stillwater lose power less often. Customers of a public power utility are likely to be without power for just 59 minutes a year, compared to customers of private utilities who may lose power for 133 minutes a year — provided there are no major adverse events. One factor for this strong reliability is the electric team is centralized to the area.