Wilsonville Hosts Nation’s Only Live Transformer Training for Lineworkers

WILSONVILLE, Ore. - Wilsonville is home to the nation's only in-classroom "live" transformer training program for lineworkers.

At the Clackamas Community College Wilsonville Training Center, Portland General Electric operates a 10-foot-high, 20-foot-wide assembly housing a series of distribution transformers carrying 12,470 and 7,200 volts of electricity.

"There is nothing like this anywhere else in the country," said Bill Young, a Portland General Electric instructor and working line foreman for IBEW Local 125.

Transformers present the most significant daily hazard for lineworkers. During emergencies, lineworkers need to know how to troubleshoot on the spot. PGE's program provides apprentices and linemen hands-on experience with fully powered transformers in a safe, controlled classroom setting, bridging the gap between textbook theory and real-world troubleshooting.

"We're building up our workforce so that we continue to be the experts in the product we supply," said Bob Simpson, PGE's director of Power Delivery Operations.

Each class features two primary instructors helping up to a dozen journeyman students through mock scenarios. During demonstrations, electricity visibly arcs as instructors energize equipment to emphasize safety protocols.

The program attracts students from utilities nationwide. During one summer training, students from Oregon and Washington analyzed individual voltage and current meters at their tables while instructors presented technical challenges.

A.J. Dooher, a foreman with Tillamook Public Utility District, said: "We don't get enough troubleshooting in the field to stay sharp. There's nowhere else to test and prove things like this."

Established in 1999 when PGE purchased equipment from Clark Public Utility District, the program is designed, built and taught entirely by IBEW Local 125-trained journeymen.

Young, who has taught for 26 years and is approaching retirement, credits the program with elevating PGE's workforce expertise to the highest levels nationally in electrical theory and construction.