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:

    • 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