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Duke Energy partners with tech colleges

Staff Report //November 19, 2018//

Duke Energy partners with tech colleges

Staff Report //November 19, 2018//

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Duke Energy is partnering with the S.C. Technical College System to invest $1 million in grants to expand training opportunities for much-needed utility lineworkers across the state.

The company will need this highly-skilled workforce as it builds a smart, secure and flexible electric infrastructure to better serve customers and keep South Carolina competitive now and in the years ahead, according to a statement from Duke Energy.

“As Duke Energy and other utilities build the smart-thinking grid of the future — and the industry adapts to an aging workforce that will retire in the coming years — thousands of jobs will be created and filled. The backbone of the workforce is the certified utility lineworker,” Duke Energy spokesman Ryan Mosier said.

Utilities are projecting the need for at least 500 lineworker hires every year for the next five years in South Carolina.

The S.C. Technical College Lineworker Grant Program was created to help fill the need and will focus on filling the ranks for existing and new industry demand of certified line workers. The grants will fund existing line worker programs or help create new programs at the state’s technical colleges. A committee will award grants twice a year with a maximum grant for any program capped at $200,000.