JCP&L Celebrates Careers in Utilities Week

On October 16, 2015 at their training center in Farmingdale, NJ, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) held an event to demonstrate the skills needed to become a utility worker and the job opportunities available in the profession. JCP&L President Jim Fakult was joined by Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and Dianne Solomon, NJBPU Commissioner and 44 trainees that are currently enrolled in the JCP&L Power Systems Institute, a unique two-year training program run in conjunction with Brookdale Community College and Raritan Valley Community College.

The JCP&L Careers in Utilities event included demonstrations featuring:
– The Bronto, a truck with a boom and bucket that can extend to 197 feet and is used to construct transmission lines
– The Rolligon, a vehicle specially designed to work in environmentally sensitive areas
– The Pressure Digger, a device for digging in rocky soil conditions
– The Aerial Saw, a unique tree-trimming tool deployed from a helicopter
– The JCP&L Mobile Emergency Operations Center
– Pole Climbing Skills

Background on the PSI program:
For more than a decade, FirstEnergy Corp, the parent company of JCP&L has teamed up with local community colleges to train the next generation of top-quality, well-educated line workers and substation electricians for the electric utility industry. The program, called Power Systems Institute (PSI), was originally introduced by FirstEnergy in 2000 as a way to replace retiring line workers. Since its inception PSI has helped more than 1,100 graduates take their careers to new heights.

Students who successfully complete the program earn an associate of applied science degree and will be prepared to enter the workforce as line workers or substation electricians.
JCP&L participated in the program in the early 2000’s but due the economic downturn in 2011 most of the PSI programs were placed on hold because projected hiring needs did not support bringing in new students. Up until that point, the Power Systems Institute already had provided JCP&L with more than 160 highly skilled employees who are working in the field today.

As future workforce needs were re-evaluated, the decision was made to reinstate the PSI program targeting a fall of 2015 enrollment class. Since JCP&L had previously instituted PSI programs at Raritan Valley Community College in 2003 and at Brookdale Community College in 2007, both colleges were reengaged for the re-launch of the program.

TOM COSENTINO
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, Public Affairs
tcosentino@mww.com