{"id":197784,"date":"2026-03-19T13:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197784\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:51:09","slug":"ocala-electric-utility-employees-win-statewide-safety-and-performance-awards-in-tallahassee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197784\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocala Electric Utility employees win statewide safety and performance awards in Tallahassee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following recent wins by local Duke Energy teams, Ocala Electric Utility lineworkers are the latest to bring home a series of individual honors and a major safety award from the Florida Lineman Competition.<\/p>\n

Ocala Electric Utility (OEU) is celebrating a major haul of accolades following the 2025 Florida Lineman Competition and Safety Awards held in Tallahassee this past weekend.<\/p>\n

The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) presented OEU with a 2025 Safety Award, an honor that recognizes utilities for maintaining incident-free safety records throughout the year, during the 2025 Florida Lineman Competition and Safety Awards held in Tallahassee last weekend. <\/p>\n

The safety award is based on a rigorous evaluation of work-related reportable injuries and illnesses compared to total worker hours, as defined by Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.<\/p>\n

In addition to the team safety honor, several OEU lineworkers demonstrated elite technical precision by placing in individual events during the competition.<\/p>\n

Evan Vandeventer led the charge for Ocala, earning second place in the Mutual Aid event and third place in the Hurtman Rescue event. <\/p>\n

\"EvanEvan Vandeventer earned second place in the Mutual Aid event and third place in the Hurtman Rescue event<\/p>\n

Bryson Jones secured a third-place finish in the Fiberglass Guy Link Change Out event. <\/p>\n

\"BrysonBryson Jones earned third place in the Fiberglass Guy Link Change Out event <\/p>\n

Rounding out the trio, Kameron Matvejs won third place in the Jack Jumper Fuse Replacement event.<\/p>\n

\"KameronKameron Matvejs won third place in the Jack Jumper Fuse Replacement event.<\/p>\n

The performance by OEU adds to a string of recent victories for Marion County utility professionals. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Ocala-News.com reported on a group of local Duke Energy workers<\/a> who dominated the Duke Energy Lineman\u2019s Rodeo in Winter Garden.<\/p>\n

In that competition, Corey Sill of Ocala earned first place in the Apprentice Overall category, while a journeyman team from Dunnellon consisting of Charles McNulty and Noah Scarpetta took top honors in their division. Those workers are now preparing to represent Marion County at the International Lineman\u2019s Rodeo in Bonner Springs, Kansas, later this fall.<\/p>\n

Like the Duke Energy rodeo, the Florida Lineman Competition serves as a critical training ground for lineworkers to practice complex repairs and life-saving rescues in a controlled, de-energized environment. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvents like this showcase the talent and commitment our linemen bring to the job every single day,\u201d OEU officials stated in a statement. \u201cWe are proud of everyone who participated and grateful for the dedication, hard work and passion our crews show day in and day out while serving our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leave your words of encouragement for the men and women who keep the lights on in Ocala in a comment or a letter to the editor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following recent wins by local Duke Energy teams, Ocala Electric Utility lineworkers are the latest to bring home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[8814,91702,64447,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-197784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-marion-county-fl","tag-ocala-electric-utility","tag-ocala-fl","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}