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CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati team with members from Kentucky came in third place in a national rodeo competition, and first place in one event. There was no bull riding or lassoing, however. This rodeo, rather, featured digging, pipe cutting and meter building. 

Utility customers in need of emergency service also stand to benefit from the team’s high level of skill.

Championship teams hang banners. And it’s no different for Duke Energy’s “Methane Heads” gas rodeo team, which has a banner hanging at one of the company’s Cincinnati facilities.

This team doesn’t wear jerseys, but it does wear helmets.

“We’re the only four-man team in the greater Cincinnati area right now,” said Tim Dennemann, a mechanic operator, and member of the team.

Most people likely have never cheered while watching them on TV, but utility customers in the area should probably be glad team members are as good as they are at what they do. 

“When there’s an emergency, getting the job done quickly and properly, it’s a big plus, because you are obviously canceling the emergency quicker by resolving the issue. Like a hit service, or something like that, you can get gas to stop blowing,” said team member Alex Kline.

Kline is one of three members of the Methane Heads from Campbell County. Tim Dennemann is another. He explained why they’ve had so much success. “Hard work and teamwork. We all love each other. So coming in here and spending time together is not a problem. And we want to be the best,” Dennemann said.

If digging up hundreds of pounds of dirt in about 45 seconds seems fast, that’s because it is. That’s what the Methane Heads were able to do for a demonstration during the reporting of this story.

At the 2022 National Gas Rodeo, the team did it in 40 seconds. Teams from energy companies nationwide competed during the Sept. 15-17 event in Springfield, Mo.

“We found out about the National Gas Rodeo in 2018. We got invited to compete in Piedmont’s local rodeo. We didn’t have a clue what was going on that first year. We just went down there, saw what it was like, and really liked it. We came back in 2019, made the relay, and finished fourth. Had two years off because of COVID. We came back this year with a slightly different team, motivated. We ended up getting second in the local rodeo. And then we went up to Nationals and made noise,” Dennemann said.

They won first place in the hand-dig event, and third overall, in a competition featuring other events like pipe cutting and meter building. These are things mechanic operators like Dennemann do every day. And when they can do it as quickly and efficiently as his team can, that’s good for customers, and the team’s trophy collection.

“I think competition brings out the best in everybody,” Dennemann said. “This shop gets to have that banner hanging up forever. That’s something they can never take away from you.”

It was the best finish for Duke Energy at the national championship since it began competing in 2009. The team has changed some through the years, but employees eyeing a spot on the Methane Heads have the work cut out for them.

“If somebody wants to be on this team, they have to beat one of us,” Dennemann said. “That’s not easy to do.”

There are probably fewer kids dreaming of one day competing in a gas rodeo than, say, the Super Bowl, but the Methane Heads are proof that the kids who do take an interest in this alternate form of competing can still make a great impact.

The team says it will probably start training again in November or December for next year’s National Gas Rodeo, where the goal will be first place overall.