Company is transitioning to a new, paid
apprentice program
WILLIAMSPORT, Md., July 5, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy
Corp. (NYSE: FE), has hired 13 recent graduates of Power Systems
Institute (PSI), a two-year educational program that helps prepare
the next generation of line and substation workers for
FirstEnergy's 10 electric companies. This will be one of the last
graduating classes of PSI as the company transitions to a new, paid
apprentice program to best meet the needs of future line and
substation personnel.
The new employees include 11 line workers who recently graduated
from the company's PSI program offered at Blue
Ridge Community & Technical College in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Two new substation
electricians graduated from Pierpont Community & Technical
College in Fairmont, West
Virginia.
"These men and women have dedicated themselves to their
education, and we welcome the graduates to our workforce. They are
making lives brighter in the communities we serve," said
Linda Moss, president of
FirstEnergy's Maryland
operations.
The new line workers and their hometowns are:
- Ethan Champ, Old Fields (WV)
- Chayson Combs, Augusta (WV)
- Michael Hipkins, Adamstown
- Garrett Landman, Clear Spring
- Cole LaPierre, Taneytown
- Bryan Layman, Waynesboro
(PA)
- Adam Marshall, Woodsboro
- Jayden Miller, Mount Savage
- Matthew Sprecher, Smithsburg
- Cole Stotler, Hagerstown
- Adam Taylor, Bunker Hill
The new substation employees and hometowns are:
- Cody Forester, Warren (OH)
- Bernie Sislo, Oakland
The PSI curriculum for line workers requires two and a half days
each week spent at Blue Ridge Community
& Technical College, with the remainder of the week spent at a
Potomac Edison training facility in Williamsport, Maryland. Similarly, substation
electricians spend two and a half days each week at Pierpont
Community & Technical College completing academic course work
and the remainder of time at the Potomac Edison training facility.
All students focus on safe work practices and procedures in the
electrical environment. The graduates earned an associate of
applied science degree in Electric Utility Technology.
Since the program's inception, FirstEnergy has hired more than
2,800 line and substation personnel who completed PSI programs in
Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
To help address the continuing need for new line workers,
FirstEnergy is transitioning to a paid apprentice program that will
consist of more on-the-job training alongside seasoned line and
substation employees, offer opportunities for relationship-building
with local personnel from the outset of the training program and
continue with classroom requirements to gain a deeper understanding
of the electric industry and safe work practices.
"PSI has served us well for many years, and we believe an
apprenticeship program is more in step with today's competitive
labor market and is being successfully utilized by a number of our
electric industry peers," said Moss.
Potomac Edison serves about 275,000 customers in all or parts of
Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties in Maryland and 151,000 customers in the Eastern
Panhandle of West Virginia. Follow
Potomac Edison at www.potomacedison.com, on Twitter @PotomacEdison,
and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PotomacEdison.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and
on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
Editor's Note: Photos of FirstEnergy's Power
Systems Institute training program are available for download on
Flickr.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.