Co-ops and state tech schools team up with line technician training centers
When the sun rises on Coin Road in Pulaski County, most of the time you can hear an unusual sound: the popping of steel-toe boots from students climbing poles at the Somerset Community College Lineman Training Center.

Early one morning, teachers at the center watched patiently as nine young men quickly moved up the poles. With one week to go in their eight weeks of training, four already had jobs at electric co-ops or other companies that continue replacing a generation of line technicians moving into retirement.

“This is class No. 62,” says Coordinator Dean Rhodes, who has run the program for the college in Somerset for 12 years. “They get hired right away, make about $28,000 to $31,000 that first year and double their salary in five years. I tell them, ‘This isn’t a job. It’s a career, and it’s all yours. All you have to do is work hard.’”

Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS) worked hard to launch the program in partnership with other utilities and contractor companies. By all counts, the program has been a phenomenal success.

“The teachers are great and make you feel right at home,” says Marcus Anderson, 19, from Campbellsville. “It’s great facilities with amazing people.”

Improving lives

Most of the KCTCS’s nearly 1,200 line technician graduates have come from the Somerset Community College program, and around 600 more have graduated from KCTCS colleges based in Ashland, Madisonville, Maysville, Prestonsburg and Hazard. Programs vary from five to 16 weeks, but all are achieving the same positive results. About 1,000 graduates from the Somerset program alone are working as line technicians today.

“We stay in touch, and most are now married,” Rhodes says. “That’s 2,000 lives we have impacted. And it just multiplies and multiplies. It’s so gratifying when they come up and just say, ‘Thank you for what you did, and what you taught me.’”

In addition to its outdoor training grounds, the Somerset center includes a 26,000-square-foot building equipped with an indoor climbing yard with 40-foot-tall poles and adjacent classrooms. It’s one of the largest indoor training facilities in the nation, enabling training to continue regardless of weather.

It’s not just students out of high school who attend. In one class, almost half were out-of-work coal miners. Many graduates have overcome other challenges. One young woman showed she could meet the physical demands of line work, while some have dealt with economic hardships.

“One young man slept in his car in the parking lot. He didn’t have the money for a motel or gas money to drive home and he was too proud to tell us,” Rhodes says. “We found out and took care of him. He was employed straight out of the program, and was doing very well last time I checked.”

The vital role of co-ops

South Kentucky RECC played a key role in launching the Somerset Community College program by securing a federal Rural Economic Development Loan for construction. The co-op continues to take care of students by stocking the kitchen and providing much additional support.

Jackson Energy CEO Carol Wright, who previously worked at South Kentucky RECC, was instrumental in launching the Somerset center and continues supporting it in numerous ways. If equipment needs mechanical repairs, Sandy “Shorty” McDaniel, one of Jackson Energy’s auto-truck technicians, is always ready to assist. Tables, desks and cabinets have often been donated after visits by co-op employees who saw a need and wanted to help.

“If I need any maintenance or repairs for equipment, I can call Jackson Energy or South Kentucky, and they will take care of it,” Rhodes says. “East Kentucky Power always does our first aid/CPR class.”

After Big Sandy RECC CEO Bruce Aaron Davis suggested that a line worker program be relaunched in Johnson County, Big Sandy Community & Technical College worked with the co-op and other utilities to get the program started there. In October, 14 students graduated.

Rachelle Burchett, director of the Big Sandy college program, says the effort illustrates how outstanding results can happen when people work together.

“You know RECC’s slogan, Our Power is Our People,” she says. “In our community, our power is in our people and being able to collaborate to make a difference in eastern Kentucky.”

Several co-ops offer tuition scholarships for their members who attend. At the Somerset Lineman Training Center, these scholarships cover the $4,200 cost of the program.

“I can’t thank the co-ops and everyone else involved enough for what they have done,” Rhodes says. “It’s been a success because of the collaboration of all the co-ops, the utility industry and the contractors. They came in and backed this program. It’s nothing that I or anyone else did individually.”

Filling a need

One of the key reasons the KCTCS colleges have been successful in placing graduates is because a wave of line technicians are retiring.

This also has increased the demand and compensation for line technicians. In Kentucky, the median line technician salary is $74,304, according to salary.com.

“The people who laid the groundwork for this, the whole idea was to replace people who are retiring,” Rhodes says. “That hasn’t slowed down since we started.”

Paul Czarapata, KCTCS interim president, says that’s why the mission of the community colleges has never been so important.

“Like many of our courses, the lineman training program has transformed lives,” he says. “We haven’t just helped the graduates find jobs. We’ve launched careers that support many families.”

Dan Newberry, 74, a longtime instructor in Somerset, says he enjoys passing along skills from 31 years of working as a line technician to a new generation and watching the students become successful in good jobs.

“You want them to have a good chance in life,” he says.

Tanner Blair, a 20-year-old from Oil Springs who graduated from Big Sandy Community & Technical College, says the program is enabling him to work in his dream career.

“Every instructor taught the importance of safety on the job and how to be successful,” he says. “I am very thankful for the opportunity provided by BSCTC and recommend anyone interested in the lineman career field to pursue it.”

Ethan Gooch, 19, a student from Richmond, likes the job security and many other aspects of a line technician’s career.

“I love it. I like being outside and way up high,” he says. “I’m willing to travel. It’s fun. You can make a good living, and you always have a job.”

Story by KEVIN OSBOURN
Photo by TIM WEBB

Where there is a disaster, there is likely a Kentuckian helping, according to Jeff Free, coordinator for the Daviess-McLean Baptist Association Disaster Relief, a subsidiary of Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief.

“Our two crews are part of recovery,” says Jeff, who also is a planner with Big Rivers Electric Corporation.

“We use chain saws to remove trees that have fallen on houses, roadways and driveways, especially for the elderly or those who have health issues.”

Jeff has been all over the world since he began volunteering in 1994— to South Africa twice and most recently to Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. He also has helped at the site of wildfires. In Louisiana, he and his crew helped a Black grandmother with 10 grandchildren after a big limb had fallen on her home.

“We loved them and they loved us,” Jeff recalls. “The whole world is not like what we see on television. I have a big compassion for people who are hurting.”

Better lives

MILAN, TENNESSEE

The Red Bird Mission Work Camp in the Bell County community of Beverly is hardly a dot on any map, but it holds a huge place in Bobby Cotham’s heart.

For 18 consecutive years, Bobby, a field engineer with Gibson EMC, has joined as many as 23 and as few as seven other people for a week to tackle much-needed projects that Beverly’s residents cannot afford to do in the former coal mining town.

Bobby says it’s impossible to choose the most memorable project, but each helps expand someone’s world or makes his or her life better, or sometimes just livable. The team has built handicapped-access ramps that enable people to get out of their home for the first time in years. The crews have rebuilt porches, installed lots of roofs, added rooms, repaired windows and put up decks.

“It is one of the most rewarding experiences,” Bobby says. “Every job is different, but you get to meet these people and by Friday everyone feels blessed.”

Story by DEBRA GIBSON ISAACS
Photo by OSCAR GORDON

As the world pins its hopes on the distribution of effective COVID-19 vaccines so we can finally emerge from the pandemic, we can look to the Kentucky farmer for inspiration.

Throughout the crisis, farmers have not only kept America nourished, they have innovated and gotten the job done, despite many challenges. The family farms featured in this issue of Kentucky Living show this creative and industrious spirit.

Reading their examples of dedication remind me of the So God Made a Farmer speech by broadcaster Paul Harvey at an FFA convention 43 years ago. You may have heard portions of it in Super Bowl ads in recent years. In a series of scenarios recognizable to the rural reader, Harvey explains that on the 8th day of creation, God needed a caretaker for the paradise he created:

“God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So God made a Farmer.”

The farmers I know embody this spirit and a special kind of faith. It takes a remarkable fortitude to weather the ups and downs of a life in agriculture. Even before COVID-19, farmers faced stiff headwinds, from trying growing conditions to falling prices in world markets.

Meanwhile, pandemic-related safety restrictions and an uncertain global economy have taken a tremendous toll. For instance, as restaurant orders plummeted, the glut of output forced producers to euthanize livestock, dump milk, and dispose of perishable products that could not be stored.

Now, in the depths of winter, America is fed while our farmers strategize and pray for a healthier 2021 and a return to some normalcy. Though this year has extra complications, farmers are always thinking ahead, turning, tilling and fertilizing for the next crop, breeding, nurturing and raising the next herd.

Thank you to our Kentucky farmers, who are resilient and have always risen to the challenge.

High winds, heavy rain and storm surge pummeled the service territories of dozens of co-ops during the most active hurricane season on record. Of 30 named storms, a dozen made landfall in the United States, knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of co-op-served homes and businesses. Some co-ops in Louisiana faced the challenges of back-to-back storms that kept visiting crews in the field for weeks.

“COVID-19 was overshadowed to a large degree by two major hurricanes hitting our service area in a few weeks’ time. A third skipped just to our east a few weeks after that,” said Mary Laurent, communications coordinator for Lafayette-based Southern Louisiana Electric Membership Corp. “Without the aid of outside co-op and contractor crews, power restoration would have been devastatingly slow, and our members would have been without power much longer—just when many were sick at home and desperately needed power.”

When a powerful derecho roared across the Northern Plains in August, Central Iowa Power Cooperative reported more than 600 transmission structures down.

“We had damaged infrastructure in 11 counties, and more than 100 of our member co-ops’ distribution substations were offline,” said Dan Burns, vice president of utility operations for the Cedar Rapids-based G&T.

With the help of volunteers from four other Midwestern G&Ts, crews worked double shifts and longer restoring power to more than 58,000 homes and businesses.

Meanwhile, out West, wildfires blackened more than 8 million acres across parts of four states and damaged the systems of co-ops serving members from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast. Four co-ops in Oregon suffered major damage on lines serving members living in remote and hard-to-access mountainous terrain.

“It’s going to be an incredible job to rebuild those systems,” said Ted Case, executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Wilsonville.

Co-ops from more than two dozen states provided mutual aid on power restoration projects in hard-hit areas this year. Crews practiced social distancing and other pandemic mitigation measures to minimize risks during those assignments and returned to their home service territories once emergency repairs were completed. But permanent repairs and cleanup work continues in some areas, with local crews and contractors still working long hours.

“Since Aug. 27 we’ve had crews working post-hurricane repairs fore 16 hours a day, seven days a week and we’ll keep up that pace thru Dec. 15, so this is still going on for us,” said Michael Heinen, general manager of Jennings, Louisiana-based Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative, praising the grit and determination of his staff and volunteering crews. “We’re proud to be part of the rural electric family that has responded with help from across the nation,” Heinen added. “There’s no better group of people in the world.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

December is typically the time when we think of Christmas and the new year. However, this year, as hard as we try, those traditions will not be the same as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

When we think of Christmas, we of course think of getting together with our family. I believe it will be important during the holidays this year that we stay vigilant to remain safe even if that means gathering with our immediate family.

I recall my family’s holiday gatherings of the 1970s. We would visit my grandparents in southern Ohio on the little farm that they owned. The olive green house with matching shag carpet would not be attractive by today’s standards, but I loved seeing the people inside.

Some of the people I saw during those visits were true heroes to me, tracing back to the decisions they made more than 30 years prior. December 7 meant something to my grandfather and my great uncles who served our country.

Many of you have heard the speech delivered by President Roosevelt calling this “a date which will live in infamy.” December 7, 1941, is the day our military and our country was attacked at Pearl Harbor.

The men whom I would later see at our Christmas celebration in the ’70s stood up to join the military in the ’40s. I often wondered what that was like for them. My family would go on to serve in Europe in the United States Army throughout the war.

There are a couple of mementos in my house and in my office that remind me of the sacrifice of my family and the many Americans who defend our country. I have a small picture of my grandfather on my desk and in our living room I have the American flag that was given to my grandmother at his funeral.

I know this holiday season will be different. I have faith that our country will overcome this pandemic and once again we will be able to enjoy the life that we love so much. But during this time when we sacrifice, let us not forget the sacrifices that have been made for many years by American heroes.

Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race sets the stage for the former vice president to implement sweeping environmental policy changes. But his planned agenda will likely be muted by what now looks to be a divided Congress, with a Republican-led Senate and a diminished Democratic majority in the House.

In the near term, Biden is expected to push for a broad economic stimulus plan shortly after he takes office in January, presenting opportunities for NRECA to secure more pandemic relief for co-ops and their consumer-members.

“Vice President Biden has been clear that the two most important things facing our country are health care, especially related to the pandemic, and the economy. We agree,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “We are focused on supporting our members in the development of the next COVID relief package, including RUS loan refinancing, shortfalls caused by nonpayment of bills and protecting those consumer-members who are least able to pay their bills.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he wants to move another economic stimulus package before the end of the year.

Matheson said NRECA will work with bipartisan champions in Congress to pass the Flexible Financing for Rural America Act, which could save co-ops more than $10 billion by allowing them to reprice loans from the Rural Utilities Service at current low interest rates. The bill would waive any prepayment penalties normally associated with refinancing.

“Our priorities remain the same: to protect the interests of America’s electric cooperatives and to ensure government doesn’t get in the way of affordable, reliable power,” he said.

Over the longer term, electric co-ops will work to shape a $2 trillion plan Biden campaigned on that would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector by 2035 and replace fossil fuels with zero-emission sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower and biomass. The divided Congress could affect how aggressively the incoming administration pursues these goals.

“The vice president has put forward principles, but the details really matter,” said Louis Finkel, NRECA’s senior vice president for government affairs. “And as those details emerge, we will evaluate them based on the tenets of affordability, reliability and resiliency.”

Biden has also touted the need to pass a comprehensive infrastructure spending bill to rebuild the nation’s aging highways and bridges and invest in public transportation and electric vehicle charging stations. He is pushing for rural broadband deployment as part of that plan.

“Our long-standing approach—to work in a bipartisan fashion with lawmakers—is going to continue to be important,” Matheson said. “Regardless of who is in control of the Congress, we feel good about the champions that we’ve worked with on both sides of the aisle. No piece of legislation we’ve ever championed has been partisan, and we will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats alike.”

By Erin Kelly, NRECA

Kentucky Electric Cooperatives President & CEO Chris Perry teamed up with Kentucky Farm Bureau President Mark Haney on the following op-ed that appeared in newspapers and websites across the commonwealth:

In communities across the country, children are taught from a young age about the importance of getting out on Election Day and voting. The right to vote is the cornerstone of any democracy and an important tool for making our voices heard in the political process.

These days, with partisanship reaching record highs, it’s easy to want to tune out the political talk and focus on our families and life at home. But we must stay engaged and take the time to ensure we are informed. From expansion of broadband across rural Kentucky to the crafting of future Farm Bills to determining tax rates in local towns — those elected on Nov. 3 will make decisions that have everyday impacts on rural Kentuckians.

Yes, you heard that right: the people we elect on Nov. 3 will make decisions that impact our daily lives. Voting really is that important!

And to be clear, exercising the right to vote doesn’t begin at the ballot box. In the weeks leading up to an election, it’s our responsibility to be informed about the issues at hand and the candidates’ position on those issues.

As organizations that operate throughout the commonwealth, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives and Kentucky Farm Bureau understand the issues rural Kentuckians face and are committed to making life better for the individuals and communities we serve. Voting has always been and continues to be a critical part of the equation.

Each election cycle, Kentucky Farm Bureau hosts candidate forums on every level — from U.S. Senate to local races — to ensure our members know exactly where candidates stand on rural issues. KFB is a grassroots organization, and we know that informed voters making their voice heard via elections is of utmost importance.

Since 2016, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives has operated “Co-ops Vote,” a partnership with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office that encourages rural voices to make sure their voices are heard in the commonwealth’s primary and general elections. We also regularly ask candidates their position on issues that impact our members and publish their responses in our flagship publication, Kentucky Living.

Whether you are involved with our organizations or not, you owe it to yourself, your family, and your neighbors to take some time to learn about your candidates and weigh in on what’s important to rural Kentucky.

With new protocols in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19, voting in 2020 is sure to look and feel a bit different than in years past. Instead of heading to your polling place on Election Day, you may be mailing in your ballot or opting to vote early. The good news is, with so many options, voting has never been easier or more accessible.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this unpredictable and difficult year, it’s that we should never take anything for granted. That includes our shared responsibility to vote, even if your choice is different than your neighbor’s.

Please join us and your fellow Kentuckians in casting your ballot this election season — rural Kentucky is depending on you!

Louisiana’s electric cooperatives were still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Laura when Hurricane Delta slammed into the state on Oct. 9, dealing another blow to co-op members already coping with damaged or destroyed homes.

Once again, Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative in Jennings and Beauregard Electric Cooperative Inc. in Deridder were hit hardest, losing 100% power for the second time in about six weeks. But, with help from hundreds of co-op lineworkers from a dozen other states organized by the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives, they restored power to many of their consumer-members in less than a week.

“Electricity is life,” said Mike Heinen, general manager of Jeff Davis EC, a small co-op with 11,000 meters and 49 employees. “No matter how exhausted we all are, you can’t say ‘no, I’m not going to do it today.’ If we don’t do our jobs, our members can’t get back up.”

Jeff Davis EC, which had restored power to about 75% of its system when Delta hit, was back up to about 50% power on Oct. 14 and to nearly 80% power by Oct. 18. Beauregard EC, which has 42,800 meters, completed its restoration work by Oct. 16.

“The good news is Delta wasn’t near as bad as Laura,” said Beauregard EC General Manager Kevin Turner. “We’re coming back a whole lot quicker.”

During Laura, about 4,000 of Beauregard’s power poles were knocked to the ground. In contrast, Delta brought down only about 50. However, Delta soaked parts of the service territory with 10 to 17 inches of water, requiring the co-op to use airboats and off-road vehicles to reach flooded areas where repairs were needed, Turner said.

“That slowed us down some,” he said. “It’s taken a few days longer this time to get the water to drain all out.”

Heinen estimates his co-op will be putting its system back together through December. Jeff Davis EC lost nearly 100 miles of transmission line during Laura and had just started rebuilding it when Delta hit. Fortunately, the rebuilt lines survived the second hurricane, he said.

“The most important thing is that nobody got hurt,” Heinen said. “Everything else can be replaced.”

Each co-op has had help from about 700 lineworkers who rushed in from co-ops in other states to help their Louisiana colleagues restore power after Delta. After Laura, about 1,200 out-of-state lineworkers came to help Beauregard EC and about 750 came to help Jeff Davis EC.

“You cannot do it without help from your brother and sister co-ops,” Heinen said. “Not this time. Not this big.”

But welcoming the out-of-state crews has been more complicated this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner said.

“It’s like working with one hand tied behind your back with COVID,” he said.

More tents were required for visiting lineworkers to ensure social distancing—only 300 people could be housed in tents meant for 600. The co-op also had to find parking places for up to 1,200 trucks instead of 400 during Laura because crew members can’t ride in the same truck.

“You’ve got to fuel all those extra bucket trucks and diggers,” Turner said. “And fuel was already in short supply during the storm.”

Local co-op employees put in 16-hour days getting things ready for the visiting crews and working with them to restore power. A total of 18 employees from both co-ops lost their homes in Laura or Delta.

“But they all showed up here the next day,” Turner said. “It’s kind of in everybody’s DNA around here to keep working ‘til we get the power back on.”

Heinen said a young lineworker came to him one evening, tired after a day spent restoring power to a substation.

“When the lights came on, a family came out on their porch and cheered and thanked him,” he said. “That lineworker told me, ‘Now I know why I’m here.’”

In some cases, the crews are restoring lines to empty lots where homes have been flattened by the hurricanes, Heinen said.

“But those folks will be back,” he said. “This is their land. This is their home.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.