Historic Hotline School Faces Relocation Due to Commercial Development
Brighton, CO – United Power’s Board of Directors approved a $20,000 contribution to the Mesa Hotline School’s relocation fund at its regular meeting in August. Mesa Hotline School provides training and education to lineworkers at cooperatives, municipal electric utilities, and even investor-owned utilities like Xcel Energy. The school learned it must find a new site for its campus due to commercial development at its existing location. The cooperative’s contribution will help the school meet approximately 20% of its relocation costs.
The Mesa Hotline School was formed in the 1960s at Mesa College following an inquiry from two cooperatives located on Colorado’s Western Slope, Empire Electric and Yampa Valley. Fast-growing local cooperatives needed a state-of-the-art facility that could provide the right kind of training and education for their lineworkers. The school enrolled its first class of 59 students in 1966. In the half century since, membership has grown from 15 members to nearly 80, representing electric utilities of all sizes throughout the country. In 2022, more than 100 instructors and volunteers helped provide training to approximately 600 lineworkers enrolled in the school’s various programs.
“The Mesa Hotline School has had a mutually beneficial relationship with United Power for many years,” said Brent Sydow, United Power’s Vice President of Operations. “Working foremen from United Power have invested hundreds of hours at the school teaching courses to both young and experienced lineworkers, and our lineworkers and apprentices have received the highest level of training through the school’s programs and course selections.”
Courses include underground and overhead equipment training, high tension stringing, and simulated high voltage training. Industry vendors also conduct training classes to showcase the latest tools and technology. Additionally, United Power utilizes the school’s educational materials to help progress its apprentice lineworkers toward qualification for the journeyman certification.
When the school received its notice about finding a new location, it began soliciting members for assistance. The relocation costs include site development, facility materials, training equipment, and more. The Mesa Hotline School launched a fundraising campaign this summer with the goal of raising $100,000 in preparation for its next class in May 2023. For more information about the hotline school, go to www.mesahotlineschool.com.
United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative, delivering electricity to homes, farms and businesses throughout Colorado’s northern front range. The cooperative is one of the fastest-growing electric cooperatives in the nation, and in June 2021 joined the elite ranks of cooperatives serving more than 100,000 meters. The 900-square mile service territory extends from the mountains of Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyon, along the I-25 corridor and Carbon Valley region, to the farmlands of Brighton, Hudson, and Keenesburg. United Power is also a founding member of the NextGen Cooperative Alliance, which is dedicated to expanding the power supply and procurement options available to distribution co-ops and reforming the traditional generation and transmission business model. For more information about United Power, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow the cooperative on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.
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