TVPPA’s most recent Line Apprentice class took its final exam near Scottsboro, AL, but the head of that class is in Athens, TN.
Athens, TN, UB linemen Abe Aziz, Dickie Slack and Matt Price posted the top three scores in their class on the exam, administered Jan. 24-26 at TVPPA’s Bellefonte Training Site. Aziz, in fact, scored a perfect 100; Slack and Price were each less than a point behind, at 99.8 and 99.2, respectively.
This was the first time in the utility’s history that an apprentice scored a perfect 100 on TVPPA’s Line Apprentice final, a fact not lost on Athens UB General Manager Eric Newberry.
“This is a phenomenal achievement,” Newberry said, “and they deserve every recognition.
“These men set the tone for how we want AUB to operate day-in and day-out. I think they would gladly tell you about co-workers who supported them every step of the way – internal trainers who shared decades of knowledge and expertise, and supervisors who ensured their success by creating the opportunity to be best in class, literally and figuratively,” Newberry said.
Annually, about 100 aspiring linemen attend the school and face the multifaceted exam, which incorporates two and a half days of written examinations coupled with laboratory demonstration of critical skills in the field.
Each candidate must complete seven progressively demanding lab sessions (about 250 hours) proving hands-on mastery of high-voltage power system fundamentals, line construction, system operations, underground infrastructure, and system troubleshooting.
“This regimen is demanding even for the best of the best,” said Athens UB’s Phil Graves, a former line-crew foreman at the utility who now serves as its director of management services
Athens UB Power Superintendent Larry Monteen said the effort made by Aziz, Slack and Price is not only noteworthy in its own right, but bodes well for AUB ratepayers as well.
“These men are part of an ongoing strategy at AUB to find the best and brightest employees we can and then provide the training that can make them the best in the business,” Monteen said.