JEA Shines at FMEA Lineworker Competition in Ocala

2025-03-03

Jacksonville, FL - JEA earned multiple team and individual honors throughout the Florida Municipal Electric Association Lineman Competition on March 1.

The competition, held at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, brought electric lineworkers from throughout Florida together to demonstrate their skill and knowledge in the craft of line work. Competitors took on various challenges such as changing out cables, disconnecting power lines, replacing arrestors and insulators and completing a simulation of rescuing an injured lineworker.  

JEA’s journeyman team - David Hicken, Caleb Macabitas, and Johnathan Stokes - placed first out of 24 teams in the Overall Journeyman Team category. Ryan Kornegay also won first place Overall Apprentice, and Hunter Thomas placed fourth out of 77 apprentices. 

Hicken, Macabitas and Stokes won third place in the 4KV Arrestor and Insulator Replacement event, and second in the Wire Down, and Hurtman Rescue events.  

Apprentice Noah Sapp won first place in the Phase Change event, while Kornegay placed third. Kornegay also won second place in the Faulted Cable Swap event, and Apprentice Safe Work exam, and placed third in the Pole Top Pin Insulator Change Out event. Apprentice Hunter Thomas placed second in the Hurtman Rescue event.

In all, electric utility workers from 18 utilities participated in the 2025 Florida Lineman Competition. This included 156 lineworkers from 15 utilities competing on 24 teams, and 64 judges from across the state that scored competitors.  

About JEA

JEA is a municipal utility providing safe, reliable and affordable services to more than one million residents across four Northeast Florida counties. JEA is not owned by investors and does not earn a profit. It was created by the City of Jacksonville to meet the electricity and water needs of those who live in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. JEA’s 2,200-plus workforce is dedicated to meeting customer needs, both today and for generations to come, while protecting our precious natural resources and supporting our region’s growth and economic development. Learn more at jea.com.

Media Contact

Karen McAllister
media@jea.com | 904-665-5500

Category:

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• electric