Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) introduced students enrolled in its Power Systems Institute (PSI) line worker training program and also demonstrated state-of-the-art utility vehicles at an event held on Oct. 16 to help recognize "New Jersey Careers in Utilities Week."

"Utilities offer challenging, long-term and good-paying career opportunities for New Jersey residents," said New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno. "By combining learning hands-on utility skills at JCP&L's training facilities with technical coursework at local community college classrooms, PSI is a great example of businesses working with higher education institutions to help fill key line worker and substation electrician jobs."

The event also included a demonstration of some of the vehicles the PSI students will eventually use to help JCP&L maintain its system or help restore power if a large-scale outage occurs.

"These PSI students represent an important addition to the JCP&L workforce and will be committed to helping us to continue our efforts to enhance service reliability for our customers," said JCP&L President Jim Fakult.  "They will receive training on how to operate standard bucket trucks, but we also have access to several unique vehicles designed to operate in all types of conditions."

The vehicle demonstrations included:

• The Bronto, an aerial truck with a boom and bucket that can extend to 197 feet and is used for work on transmission lines and structures

• The Rolligon, an all-terrain vehicle with large tires specially designed to work in environmentally sensitive areas

• The Pressure Digger, a device for digging in rocky soil conditions

• The aerial saw, a unique tree trimming tool deployed from a helicopter to cost-effectively trim trees in hard to access areas

• JCP&L's Mobile Emergency Command Center

PSI is a two-year program where graduates will earn an Associate of Applied Science degree with a focus on electric utility technology.  Students currently enrolled in the PSI program are on track to graduate in the spring of 2017 and would be available to join the JCP&L workforce.