Avangrid works with SUNY Broome Community College to offer lineworkers training

Avangrid has formed a partnership with State University of New York (SUNY) Broome Community College and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to launch a new Lineworker Training Program.

Already, the fledgling program has attracted more than 100 students to information sessions to learn more about enrolling in the program.

“I’m very pleased to see so many students wanting to learn more about this great program,” Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said. “Our lineworkers are the foundation of our electric companies. A career in linework takes an immense amount of skill, knowledge, determination, and resiliency, but it also provides a stable, high-paying income and the opportunity to serve your community. We need New York’s best and brightest to join our team, and I know this program will prepare them for success.”

The program will combine classroom instruction of both technical and professional skills with hands-on training at the training facility and pole yard of Avangrid’s New York subsidiary, New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), in Binghamton.

Further, the program will include a paid internship. And, upon completion, students will have the opportunity to interview for employment with NYSEG.

“Electrical workers are the backbone of what we do at NYSEG,” Patricia Nilsen, president and CEO of NYSEG and Rochester Gas and Electric, said. “As winter storms have illustrated for us over the past few years, electrical workers are a resource that we must protect and grow. Not just to restore power after erratic weather, but also to maintain and improve our grid and provide safe and reliable service to the community.”

Dr. Tony Hawkins, president of SUNY Broome Community College, is oproud to be providing education and training for line workers.

“The role of the community college is to pivot and grow in order to meet the needs of the local workforce and prepare students for positions that are readily available and in demand,” Hawkins said.

Avangrid also has a 10-week Union Scholars Program for high schoolers in partnership with the Utility Workers Union of America in Connecticut. In addition, it has partnered with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to establish programs that are supporting the development of a trained and skilled clean energy workforce.