As professions go, a career as a lineman is a smart choice for students with the physical stamina and temperament to withstand the widely recognized rigors of the job—long hours in extreme weather with the ever-present risk of serious accident or electrocution. The pay is excellent: The average annual salary for trained journeymen linemen in Oklahoma is $51,000; however, an experienced journeyman lineman can earn $70,000 or more. Depending on the company, the job often comes with benefits such a health insurance and retirement programs. More important for job seekers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports the need for electric utility linemen is expect- ed to increase by 13 percent by 2020. Electric cooperatives, in particular, are scrambling to hire linemen and other positions to prepare for the exodus of some 15,000 employees due to retirement. At East Central Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (ECE) in Okmulgee, Eric Armstrong, human resources manager, reports that nearly half of the co-op’s 27 linemen will be eligible for retirement by 2027. Armstrong also serves on the advisory committee of the high voltage lineman program, a position that serves a dual purpose. Committee members represent various areas of the utility business and advise on industry-related developments that help the school turn out students who are trained to meet current industry needs. “We’re also involved in their intern program, which is an excellent way to recruit graduating students,” Armstrong added. One of the advantages of OSUIT’s lineman program is paid internships that are guaranteed to every student. For five out of the six semesters, stu- dents attend class for half a semester and work in the field for the remainder. The internships provide valuable on-the-job training with salaries of $16 to $24 per hour, depending on the company. “It’s one of the unique aspects of our program,” said Steve Olmstead, dean of the construction technologies division at OSUIT. “With the paid intern- ships, our students make enough money to pay 99 percent of tuition.” As students move through the program, the school arranges internships that expose them to specialized areas such as transmission and distribution lines, substations, even working from helicopters, known in the industry as “bird on a wire.”
Lael Leblanc, apprentice lineman at ECE, interned with a utility contract- ing company while studying at OSUIT. After graduating in 2015, he stayed on with the company and was catapulted into one of the worst weather-re- lated disasters in Oklahoma, Ice Storm Goliath. Barely four months on the job, Leblanc got his first real taste of life on the line. Called out on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, Leblanc began a string of 16-hour work- days and discovered something remarkable—he loved it. “It was a rush getting to go out, working to get the power back on, and knowing so many people were relying on us,” he said. That the self-described outdoorsman finds the grueling work stimulating is no surprise—Leblanc also noodles. The hobby involves shoving an arm into dark underwater holes and encouraging catfish upwards of 50 pounds to bite it. The ensuing fish-versus-man wrestling match often results in the loss of human skin and even painful fish-inflicted punctures. Fun.
Arlan Penrice, a lineman tech III with Northwestern Electric Cooperative (NWEC) in Woodward, Oklahoma, began a career in linework recently.
It does, however, get the blood pumping. That adrenaline rush, the chal- lenging conditions, and the ever-present potential for danger appeals to those with the “lineman mentality,” explained John Kirkwood. Not every- one who walks in off the street has the fortitude or level of commitment required to be a lineman, Kirkwood said. He ought to know: The director of field operations for Northwestern Electric Cooperative (NWEC) in Woodward, Oklahoma, worked as a lineman for 28 years before shifting to supervisory work. Before hiring a “grunt,”—that’s short for a potential lineman with zero experience—Kirkwood and another veteran lineman sit down with applicants and explain what the job entails. “We tell them war stories to give them a good idea of what we do,” he
said. “Usually a light comes on, and they start thinking maybe that’s not for them.” At OSUIT, trainers wisely adjust the program so candidates who lack the right stuff to be linemen can avoid investing time and money in a career for which they’re ill-suited. First on the agenda: Climbing poles. “We have a pre-enrollment session where potential students come and we put them on poles,” said Dell Dunham, OSUIT high voltage instructor, and an experienced lineman himself. “We give them a taste of it to see if they want to change their mind.” Roughly 1 to 2 percent of applicants decide against it, he added. Once
The need for electric utility linemen is expected to increase by by the year 2020.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics
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WWW.OKL.COOP 13%
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