Electric lineworkers from Tallahassee receive grand prize sponsored by FMPA

ORLANDO, Fla., April 20, 2015 – Electric lineworkers from Tallahassee showed off speed, skill and safety at the Florida Lineman Competition held April 17 and 18 in Tallahassee, Fla., to win a trip to a national competition courtesy of Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA).

The annual Florida Lineman Competition, hosted by Florida Municipal Electric Association, demonstrates the skills of lineworkers from Florida’s electric utilities. During the event, lineworkers displayed skill, efficiency and safety by performing a variety of typical line-work tasks as spectators and judges looked on.

Judges selected Keith Kirkpatrick of Tallahassee as the top-rated apprentice. The winning journeyman team also from Tallahassee included Lamar Allen, Blake Burns and Garrett Padgham. Winners of the special senior journeyman team division included Tallahassee’s Terry Cobb, Nick Ellis and Jason Smith.

Kirkpatrick will receive $750 and the Tallahassee journeyman team will receive $3,000 to pay for travel expenses to participate in a national competition.

FMPA sponsors the top prize in the competition to honor Florida’s public power lineworkers and the outstanding service they provide to their communities.

“Reliable service is a hallmark of locally owned electric utilities because their lineworkers live and work in the local community,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas Guarriello. “Sponsoring this annual competition is one way for FMPA to give back to these hometown heroes who give their all to keep the lights on rain or shine.”

Sponsoring this annual prize is not the only way FMPA serves public power lineworkers. The Agency also offers a safety training program, lineman’s roundtable and a distribution reliability measurement service.

“Reliable local service is part of what makes municipal utilities valuable, and FMPA is here to support the men and women who make it happen,” said Guarriello.

Winning lineworkers from the city of Tallahassee celebrate their win at the Florida Lineman Competition on April 18, 2015.

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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 31 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately two million Floridians.