Growing up in New Bedford, Lineworkers Nick Camacho, Nick Richard, and Macabe Martins played sports together, took classes together at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, completed our Electric Power Utility Program at Bunker Hill Community College together, and started their careers at Eversource together. It’s only natural that the lifelong friends should join forces to compete together as a journeymen team in the Eversource Lineworkers Rodeo. The trio are hoping that their strong bond will help them win the day.

“We want to put New Bedford on the map,” said Martins, who Camacho and Richard recruited to form a team to represent their hometown.

While Camacho and Richard both competed in the rodeo as apprentices in 2017 and 2018, this will be their first time on a journeymen team—and Martins will be a first-time contender. Like the Olympics for lineworkers, the rodeo challenges skills that aren’t frequently used but critical for the job like climbing, working off a pole, and completing tasks with a hot stick, an insulated tool used when working on energized power lines. Sharpening these skills comes in handy when our crews encounter situations in the field that require an alternative approach to their usual way of tackling a job. For example, a trouble spot in a remote right of way that our bucket trucks can’t access would require strong climbing skills.

“Training for the rodeo with the more experienced journeymen has provided me with a great opportunity to refine my skills,” said Martins.
Camacho also credits his strong skills to the mentorship that he’s received at Eversource, and he encourages other apprentices to compete in the rodeo to develop their craft.

“Scott Kelly taught me everything I know before he retired,” Camacho said. “The one-on-one training that he provided prepared me to be successful in the trade.”

In 2019, Camacho and Richard qualified for the International Lineman’s Rodeo in Bonner Springs, Kansas; however, shortly after they arrived in the state for the competition, they were called home to New England to support restoration efforts following a major storm. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic put the competition on hold. For the first time in two years, they’ll join fellow lineworkers throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire at our Berlin, CT campus to celebrate their community and showcase their skills.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all the teams from the other states and watching them compete—it’s a fun event,” said Richard.

Read more about the International Lineman’s Rodeo.