BEAUMONT – Each morning, utility lineworkers wake up and go to work to keep homes, businesses and communities across Southeast Texas powered.

Whether it’s getting the lights back on following a hurricane, responding to an outage in the middle of the night or providing reliability upgrades for customers, Entergy Texas lineworkers are on the front lines of keeping the lights on for our customers.

To ensure the next generation of lineworkers is ready to keep the lights on, Entergy Texas is donating $50,000 to the Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation for student scholarships.

The Entergy Utility Line Technology Scholarship will provide 25 scholarships over the next five years to LIT students in the Utility Line Technology program.

“Having a trained and skilled workforce is vital to not only Entergy Texas’ success, but also the communities we serve,” said Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas, Inc.

“Our lineworkers play such a huge part in powering life in Southeast Texas. It’s critical for Entergy Texas to invest in the next generation of lineworkers.”

According to LIT, the employment outlook for this career is strong with an expected 18.2 percent job growth over the next five years (2025) due to 40 percent of the current workforce being over the age of 45 years old.

“Approximately 61 percent of the students enrolled at LIT receive some financial aid to assist with tuition fees and other course expenses,” said Dr. Lonnie L. Howard, president of Lamar Institute of Technology. “We’re thankful for partners like Entergy Texas, who are committed to supporting the workforce of tomorrow.”

The Utility Line Technology program at LIT prepares students to work in the power line industry as apprentice lineworkers.

The curriculum includes the design and function of electric generation, transmission and distribution systems, substations, transformers, capacitors, voltage regulators, system protection and metering.

Students learn to climb utility poles, handle highly energized utility lines and be eligible to earn a Texas Commercial Driver’s License.

The program is a 32-week program taught at the Robinson Center in Silsbee. Students who successfully complete the recommended program receive a Certificate in Utility Line Technology.

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to approximately 450,000 customers in 27 counties. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations.

Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 9,000 megawatts of nuclear power.