My daughter Elen, ex-USMC, is doing a year’s internship with the California Conservation Corps before starting college this fall. (Oregon State, forestry). She’s training to be an Arborist, and the skills transfer to lineman work.
I’m a member of an electrical coop in what used to be a rural area. It is led by serous men (and maybe a few women) that rose from the ranks and know how to keep the lights on. Constant maintenance and tree trimming is a priority. We have horrible ice storms every 10 years or so with minimal outages.
I bought a $350 generator after what the “Local News” called a 2-3 week outage. My power was back on when I got home.