Company is transitioning to a new, paid
apprentice program
FAIRMONT, W.Va., July 5, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp.
(NYSE: FE), has hired eight new 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, who recently graduated from the PSI
partnership established in 2012 with Pierpont Community &
Technical College in Fairmont, West
Virginia, will all serve as line workers.
"These men and women have dedicated themselves to their
education, and we look forward to these graduates joining our
workforce and making lives brighter in the communities we serve,"
said Jim Myers, president of
FirstEnergy's West Virginia
operations.
The new Mon Power line workers and their hometowns are:
- Teran Allman, Jane Lew
- Reece Carr, Fairmont
- Brandon Flesher, Weston
- Timothy Hunt, Weston
- Kendal Hamric, Frametown
- Michael McConnell, Accident
(MD)
- Christopher Roach, Washington
- Phillip Steele, Burnsville
The PSI curriculum requires two and a half days each week spent
at Pierpont completing academic course work with the remainder of
the week spent at a Mon Power training facility in White Hall, West Virginia, focusing on safe
work practices and procedures in the electrical environment.
Ultimately, students earn 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
West Virginia, Maryland, New
Jersey, Ohio and
Pennsylvania.
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 with seasoned bargaining unit
employees, offer opportunities for relationship-building with local
department personnel from the outset of the training program and
continue with classroom requirements to gain a deeper understanding
of the electric industry.
"PSI has served us well for many years, but 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 Myers.
Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Follow Mon Power at
www.mon-power.com, on Twitter @MonPowerWV, and on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/MonPowerWV.
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.