Tarrant County College South Campus and Oncor are teaming up to fill a major need for utility line workers with a new electrical line technician program.
The first 13 students started this week and are learning the skills.
“Working on the power lines [and] this also goes into working with cable lines and any kind of information technology lines that are hanging,” Derek Hubenak, with Tarrant County College, explained.
It is a 2-year course, and the school hopes to start a rotation in the future with new groups starting in the fall, spring and summer. College administrators hope the program would send a continuous flow of new qualified technicians into the workforce.
“The program is an exciting opportunity for me because, presently, I am unemployed and an unemployed veteran seeking other opportunities to advance my career and learn more about technical career fields,” said Willie Pittman, a member of the inaugural class. Pittman said he's eager to use his skills for a new job.
"This will be a very well-paying job," said Thomas Ford, a Tarrant County College spokesman. "Students coming out of the program should be anticipating anywhere from the $40,000 range as entry-level pay [to] people with three or four years of experience [in the] $80,000 to $90,000 range."
