OEC’s Central Ohio Lineworker Training (COLT) program provides elite hands-on apprentice and journeyman lineworker training and is currently limited to lineworkers employed by Ohio’s electric co-ops. Participation in another pre-apprentice program would enhance your resume and be looked upon favorably by these cooperatives.
Located outside of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, adjacent to Consolidated Cooperative’s headquarters, the COLT training facility includes a 16-acre outdoor training field, which includes:
- Outdoor overhead electric line system with four feeders and 50 wood pole structures
- Underground open-loop system with three 3-phase risers and 20 cabinets/transformers
- Storage building with concrete pad for line materials
In 2017, OEC opened a $1 million indoor training facility to supplement the outdoor training field. This addition includes:
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- 19 poles under roof— nine for climbing exercises, plus five with 3-phase line, and five with single-phase line, for de-energized and energized exercises using high-voltage, low-amperage transformers
- Energized underground open-loop system with pad-mounted electrical equipment
- Specialized training stations replicating actual equipment used in cooperative systems
- Exhaust system allowing for indoor operation of diesel-powered trucks and equipment
- In-floor radiant heating system
- LED lighting