(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Angel Toledo, lead instructor in Texas State Technical College’s Electrical Lineworker Technology program, spent the week cleaning up TSTC’s 12-acre pole yard at the corner of Rio Hondo Road and 29th Street in Harlingen.

The work involved moving overhead transformers to the yard and also making sure trucks are filled with diesel fuel. It is all in anticipation of the start of Monday’s summer semester.

The semester will be capped off with the graduation of the Harlingen program’s first Electrical Lineworker cohort, whose students are working toward certificates of completion.

“I am impressed because these students are doing an awesome job,” Toledo said. “Everyone is able to apply and understand the safety of the profession, which is number one.”

The summer graduates have the opportunity to sign up for a three-week commercial driver’s license course already covered in their tuition. The lessons are being taught on campus by Ancora Corporate Training, which is also teaching new Electrical Lineworker Technology graduates at the Fort Bend County, Marshall and Waco campuses.

Eric Carithers, TSTC’s statewide chair of the Distribution and Industrial Electrical Systems department, said three of the summer semester’s graduates will be selected to do a six-week paid internship at AEP. The graduates who prove that they have the know-how and passion for linework will be selected for the job, which will be based in the Rio Grande Valley.

Other Valley options for graduates are Magic Valley Electric Cooperative and the Brownsville Public Utilities Board.

Cleiri Quezada, senior communications and public relations coordinator at BPUB, said it is challenging to fill lineworker positions because a lot of applicants do not meet all of the job qualifications. She said BPUB looks for people who have high school diplomas or General Educational Development (GED) certificates, two years of experience in utility construction and a Texas commercial driver’s license. She said job candidates’ reliability and dedication are also measured.

Entry-level lineworkers start as apprentices at BPUB, she said.

“This is a great place to work, especially for people who are just graduating,” Quezada said. “This is a great place to gain experience and to grow in the company, especially in the position of lineworker.”

Harlingen’s Electrical Lineworker Technology program began last fall. The program has worked to build industry partnerships, some of which have yielded equipment for students to use.

“It has definitely met the expectations of what we were expecting in the area,” Carithers said.

TSTC also offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Lineworker Technology. TSTC’s Electrical Lineworker Technology is the only program of its kind south of Corpus Christi.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website, electrical power line installers and repairers in Texas make a yearly median salary of more than $58,000. Texas will need more than 13,800 workers by 2028.

Fall registration continues for all of TSTC’s programs. Scholarships are available. For more information, go to tstc.edu.