Training Topics

This is a hands-on presentation using regulator controls. We will divide your guys up into smaller groups and they will use various regulator controls to answer questions about settings and function. We will also be reviewing the steps involved in bypass regulators and issues with regulator bypass switches. Basic troubleshooting and diagnosing regulator issues will also be covered.

This is a hands-on presentation using breaker controls and breaker simulators to get your folks involved and digging into the controls. We will divide them into smaller groups to facilitate more hands on. They will be going into menus and finding trip settings, voltages, load current, fault current, doing battery tests and more. We have Cooper controls and at least 1 SEL control at our disposal.

PowerPoint presentation and a cut-away capacitor. Information on safe practices around cap banks, issues caused by cap banks, removing from service, using voltmeters to check capacitors, why we need them.

This topic is intended to facilitate discussions among the personnel who interact with all the new sectionalizing and reclosing devices that are replacing the hydraulic devices that have served us over the years. With the extended duty cycles, and the convenience of vacuum interrupted devices, the markets are exploding with newer, lightweight, and more reliable equipment that is giving the tops of our poles a new look. Devices for example would include the VersaTech Hot Breaker, TripSaver II, Chance Programmable, resettable, sectionalizers. New equipment such as the S&C Vacufuse, and Edge Restore. We will be able to demonstrate some of these devices as well as discuss any equipment that the crews may come across while providing mutual aid.

Custom presentation built to your needs. This has been well received and a great way to help introduce or reintroduce equipment to your folks. Often, we purchase something and we are familiar with it at that point but lose familiarity over time. This is a good opportunity to get everyone focused on how new equipment works or dust off some necessary but rarely used items. We are happy to work with product reps on this if given enough notice.

This is a short presentation going through the functions and proper use of digital multimeters. We will also discuss multimeter classes and limitations. The phasing stick portion of the presentation will be discussing different types of sticks on the market, proper phasing techniques, review of your phasing and rotation testing tools. Along with Load Busting Tools and Hi-Potting.

This presentation can be used to help the guys better understand the components of switchgear. We will also do a brush up on the types of URD elbows and precautions. I will also bring a cut-away simulator to the training to see the inside of an S&C switchgear in action. Fully functioning and operational live front and dead front. See where your clearances and open point lie for your safety. Fuse changing, and safe terminating and splicing practices. With this we will also give a great URD safety presentation with many “AH HA” moments lineman typically aren’t aware of while handling URD. Cut-aways of components and devices we work with everyday to gain a better understanding of how our devices work for us.

This is a hands-on training session that can be tailored to your needs. This training gives an opportunity to check for proper settings and use of your current underground tools. We can practice proper terminating techniques for 200 AMP load break elbows, underground primary splices, overhead primary terminations, 200 AMP fused elbows, 600 AMP elbows, 600 AMP splices, etc.

We feel that it is important to train with the tools that you are currently using and will ask that you have the appropriate materials and tools available for the training that you have selected.

The Switchgear Simulator is a very useful tool to help give the lineman a good visual of what’s going on inside a switchgear. This is a real life cut-away of a switchgear that has both live front and dead front components. The linemen and apprentices can get hands on training of fuse replacement and switching. This provides great visuals of the load break capabilities utilized on both types of switchgear. See the contacts that are made while picking up load, and how the contacts are protected while breaking load. Also, the crew will get a great view of a common bus work and how everything is connected inside the switchgear to give them a better understanding of its usage and how they can keep themselves safe.

This is a hands-on skill improvement. We have a couple different ways we can do this to fit your needs. We have at our disposal wiring boards that we can set up and have the guys wire for the necessary meter installation, or we can bring in several forms of meters and meter bases and the guys will need to decide which meter installs into which bases.

We also cover voltage checks for safe meter installation, reading and understanding the meter faceplate data and how finding and understanding the class of the meter can help them avoid mistakes.

PowerPoint presentation discussing voltages on the system, voltage issues (back-feeds, bad underground, 3 phase bank issues, etc.) and other customer-based voltage complaints. Emphasizing mainly stray voltage issues, how they are caused and steps to finding the issue and possibly eliminating it.

We can build this to suit your needs. Have a solar site, and want to do a refresher tour or a first time run through? Or do you feel like you need information about how customer solar can affect the safety of lineman? Would you like both? Just let me know your needs and we will work to put together a presentation to help out.

Our Solar Energy Demo unit is a great tie-in to the Solar Energy training or a stand-alone knowledge enhancer. This skill improvement focuses on hybrid and off-grid solar and demonstrates how they work. It also demonstrates some contributing factors when your members’ grid-tied solar might not be living up to their expectations.

During this skill improvement we also look at the cost of solar for home installation. Another aspect of this training is a discussion about the members’ generation onto the distribution system and often overlooked pieces of the distribution network that may need modification.

Allow me to come in and help prepare your team for what would possibly be the worst day of their career should they ever have to perform a pole top or bucket truck rescue. I will evaluate them for their proficiency in climbing, knot tying, and making the scene safe to perform the rescue. We can do a standard pole top, or scenario based rescues graded on their ability.

The team will have to show knowledge of the trucks they are using, and the ability to perform a rescue, as well as different techniques of removing the injured from the basket without causing further harm to the victim. Familiarity with the ground controls of the unit along with safe approach procedures. This doesn’t have to be an awful day of training. We will have fun and probably share some laughs with this one.

Do you have vegetation or fiber crews needing electrical hazard awareness? Allow us to use our Electrical Hazard Awareness Program, or custom tailor one to fit your needs, to better equip your team with the knowledge to keep themselves out of hazardous situations. Minimum approach distances, basic electrical principles, and recognizing visual clearance points for their protection are just a few of many different topics covered in this training.

OSHA and ANSI Z133 standards will be discussed along with how we use something we can’t see, touch or smell to do work for our members and customers. We have had a lot of great feedback from members simply by taking the time to explain basic functions of the devices they see every day. How and why we rely on certain devices for our safety, and what all it takes to make this great industry tick.

We also have several other learning opportunities to consider as well. We are OSHA Authorized instructors. Allow us to host an OSHA 10hr training or 30hr training to broaden your knowledge on OSHA related topics. Pricing and minimum class sizes will need to be discussed.

• Certified forklift and recertifications
• Certified flagger and recertifications, along with basic traffic control
• Electrical Hazard Awareness Programs (EHAP) to educate those working around energized equipment but with no direct contact: communication personnel, vegetation management, or any other labor that puts us in the safe working distances. Pricing and class sizes to be discussed.

Allow us to spend some time with the folks up front. We have a great program for your Member Service Representatives and Customer Service Representatives to bring them up to speed on what exactly is happening out in the field. How we use devices for protection and the terminology they may hear from the personnel operating the devices. Basic electrical principles, along with devices that can burden our system as well as benefit our system. We can start from generation all the way to the end consumer. The history behind A.C. and D.C. and the benefits of one over the other.

For a full day of training or a separate training in itself we can include customer complaints and high bill complaints. This training will give your folks the tools they need to have the big conversations with our agitated customers. Don’t leave the team taking these calls in the weeds. Let’s get them brought up to speed and give them some ammunition to be able to have these conversations.