The Hoosier Energy Apprenticeship Training & Safety (HEATS) program held its 2025 graduation ceremony on Oct. 17 in French Lick.
It was the largest attendance at a graduation since 2022, when three years’ worth of graduates were honored due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The 2025 ceremony had 60 graduates and 363 attendees. That brings the total number of HEATS graduates to 924 since the program’s inception in 1974, with another 184 apprentices currently enrolled across the disciplines of Line, Meter, Substation, MSR, and Fiber.
Highlighting this year’s graduates were a trio of Academic Award winners:
Jacob Pyne of Utilities District of Western Indiana
REMC (UDWI) for the Lineman Program
Brent Stevenson of Hoosier Energy in the Meter Program
Tony Bonham of Hoosier Energy in the Substation Program
The 2025 Lineman Program graduates: Harley Applegate and Dylan Conrad of Clark County REMC; Jarrett Arvin and Dwain Jolliff of Daviess-Martin County REMC; Garret Berg of Dubois REC; Logan Murphy, Brandon Pace, and Derek Saunders of Harrison REMC; Jason Burton, Drew Horning, and Cory Murphy of Henry County REMC; Chad Campbell, Alex Hopf, and Colin Lane of Hoosier Energy; Kevin Huffman and Peyton Olds of Southeastern Indiana REMC; Jarrett Hawhee of Southern Indiana Power; Jacob Pyne of UDWI REMC; Ryan Chappell and Abrem Losekamp of Whitewater Valley REMC; and Kyle Blann, Chase Donaldson, and Alex Schnepper of WIN Energy REMC.
The Meter Program graduates: Waidus Hughes of AES; Travis Uhl of Clark County REMC; Andrew Korte of Harrison REMC; Tom Gettinger and Lance Koontz of Henry County REMC; Steve D’Esposito, Clint House, Brandon Robinson, Jeremy Ruhe, Scott Smith, and Brent Stevenson of Hoosier Energy; and Eric Siebert of Whitewater Valley REMC.
Substation Program graduates: Tony Bonham and Evan Goshorn of Hoosier Energy.
The MSR Program graduates were: Thera Desmond, Jessica Kaufer, Jamie Lundy, and Jessica Miller of Clark County REMC; Karen Padgett of Daviess-Martin County REMC; Craig Adams and Elizabeth Kempf of Dubois REC; Dave Satori of Harrison REMC; Heather Ferguson and Melissa True of Henry County REMC; Cynthia Frainee and Kristin Ramirez of JCREMC; Brandyn Weaver of RushShelby Energy; Sara Waggoner of South Central Indiana REMC; Stacie Keppel, Robin Monday, and Steven Sieverding of Southeastern Indiana REMC; Andy Sommer of Southern Indiana Power; and Jessica Brown and Stacy Henry of UDWI REMC.
The inaugural Fiber Program graduates: Paul Trenkamp of Decatur County REMC, and Aaron Allen and Tyler Wright of Southeastern Indiana REMC.
