Bottled lightning: flashing lights shown at Duke Energy safety demonstration
Apr. 5—LENOIR — On Thursday, April 4, students, first responders and members of the public all assembled outside CCC&TI's Electrical Lineworker Institute to attend a live wire demonstration by Duke Energy. The demonstration began at 10:30 a.m. and covered basic information on electrical line work. Duke's goal in conducting these kinds of demonstrations is to protect and educate members of the public, first responders and other interested parties.
According to Robin Nicholson, district manager of government and community relations with Duke Energy, the live line demo trailer is a portable education and training tool the company uses to provide basic information on the functioning of electrical lines and associated equipment, of personal protective equipment, of standard practices for repair and maintenance of lines and common situations in which live, damaged wires could threaten life or property.
Electric lineworkers are often serve as first responders during inclement weather or natural disasters, entering dangerous situations to restore power to areas that need it. Lineworkers receive extensive training on how conduct necessary repairs to line damage caused by common problems such as animals, fallen limbs, and storms. Duke Energy lead communications manager Logan Kureczka explained that lineworkers' duties often include "work to upgrade lines and poles" and "integration of smart, self-healing technology — which saved more than 1.5 million customer interruptions and avoided more than 3.5 million hours of customer outage time in 2023."
Duke Energy's lineworkers specifically manage more than 31,000 miles of electrical transmission lines and nearly 283,000 miles of distribution lines, according to Kureczka. These workers serve 8.4 million total customers, 3.7 million of which are in North Carolina.
During the Thursday demonstration, trained lineworkers produced loud dry cracks to simulate animals wandering onto the lines and drew bright plasmic arcs from the live wires to show what may happen if an untrained or carless person were to place a ladder against or try and remove debris from power lines — even if there is no visual evidence the lines are still live. The representatives continually urged onlookers to contact professionals in such cases.
These demonstrations are generally arranged upon request rather than according to a strict schedule. Duke Energy maintains relationships with community college programs like the Electrical Lineworker Institute to educate and recruit more of these highly trained and dedicated workers. Mayor Joseph Gibbons recently issued a proclamation cementing April 18, 2024 as Line Worker Appreciation Day within the city of Lenoir to celebrate the essential contributions lineworkers make to the communities they serve.
