Co-op Linemen Advance Skills at Nash Community College

Ten electric cooperative linemen recently completed advanced education work in Nash Community College’s Electric Lineman Technology program. The lineworkers earned advanced certificates for completing 17 college‑level credits.

The program includes courses in the classroom and outdoors on a specially designed training field built by the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives. They learn skills such as overhead line construction, underground line construction and the National Electrical Safety Code. Beyond classes in line work and energy management, they can take courses toward an Associate Degree ranging from writing and math to critical thinking, computers and communication.

Since the program began in 1998, 22 co-op linemen have graduated with an Associate Degree. The community college program is supported entirely by the cooperatives but is also attended by linemen from Duke Energy and the municipal electric systems. In 2018, approximately 400 co-op employees attended the NC Electric Cooperatives’ Job Training & Safety Technical Training Schools at Nash Community College.