Powering through: meet the first woman to complete Cleveland Public Power’s lineworker apprentice program

A few years ago, Ta’Jahnae Buchanan, like many people, had never heard of lineworkers. Her grandmother told her about an apprenticeship program at utility company Cleveland Public Power, and Buchanan researched the job, which involves installing and repairing electrical power lines. 

“I thought it would be interesting,” Buchanan said. “I’m like, ‘Ain’t nothing to lose if I just try it out,’ and I tried it out and I actually liked it.” 

Last month, Buchanan became the first woman, and the first Black woman, to complete CPP’s lineworker apprenticeship program, a four-year journey for Cleveland Metropolitan School District graduates that starts with a three-week long “climbing school,” where apprentices learn how to scale and work from poles.

Mayor Justin Bibb gave a shoutout to Buchanan during his State of the City address at East Tech High School on Wednesday. “When we met to celebrate her accomplishments, I told her this: ‘You can be the first, but you can’t be the last. Can’t be the last.’ And I can’t wait to watch her continue to break barriers and mentor a new generation of women in her field,” he said.

Just 5.3% of lineworkers in the U.S. are women, according to 2022 data from recruitment company Zippia. Buchanan, whose favorite part about her job is the opportunity to continue learning each day, hopes more people will find out about linework and more women will become lineworkers. 

What lineworkers do, and what it takes to become one

A lot of people don’t know about, or appreciate, the work that lineworkers do, Buchanan said.

“I just think that we’re just hidden in the dark. A lot of times when people think of heroes, they don’t think of line workers — except when their lights go off, then we get the call. But on the day-to-day basis, we’re just in the dark,” she said. 

Lineworkers like Buchanan make sure people have electricity in their homes and businesses, and they restore power when it goes out. A few weeks ago when storms hit Northeast Ohio, Buchanan worked 16 hours a day and came in on the weekend. The wind raged, quickly blowing down wires that the lineworkers had just put back up, Buchanan said. 

Every day on the job looks different for Buchanan. She might have to climb a pole or use a bucket truck to fix or maintain power lines, work underground, or work on a transformer. Because different challenges come with each job site, Buchanan learns something new every day, she said. 

The work is physically and mentally demanding, as lineworkers have to deal with high-voltage electricity, heights, and heavy equipment, said Brian Dean, who previously worked as a lineworker and is now a transmission and distribution inspector at CPP. 

“It’s a dangerous job, and there’s a lot to learn. When you become a journeyman after your four years, you still got a lot to learn,” Dean said. The term “journeyman” refers to a lineworker who has completed their apprenticeship. “As an apprentice, somebody’s watching you constantly and telling you what to do. As a journeyman, now you’re more on your own. You have to think more for yourself and make decisions, so it’s a little more stressful.”

Lineworkers have to be cautious because they’re dealing with electricity, but they also have to keep their confidence level up to complete tasks and solve problems, Buchanan said. 

Dean helps teach the classroom training portion of CPP’s apprenticeship program, which combines time in the classroom with hands-on work. CMSD graduates who will be 18 years or older by the September after their graduation and have a 2.5 GPA and a 93% attendance record over four years are eligible to apply. 

Participants in the apprenticeship program progress from “student assistants” who make $13 an hour to “intern apprentices” who become members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union Local 39 and earn a base salary of $17.25. Then, after completing all requirements and spending a year as an intern apprentice, they become “first-year line apprentices” with a starting salary of $27.81 an hour. The starting pay for lineworkers at CPP is $42.17 an hour.

Buchanan’s journey to “journeyman” status

Buchanan’s path to becoming a lineworker began with three weeks of climbing school. She said she entered the apprenticeship program with three other women, but they dropped out during this step, deciding that the work was not for them.

“I wanted to see what’s after this. I wanted to see if I could do climbing school – going up in a bucket can’t be harder than climbing a pole. So if I climbed a pole, I knew I could go in that bucket and do the work,” Buchanan said. 

Then, Dean worked with Buchanan and about six other apprentices on classroom training. “She adapted very well. She caught onto things really quickly,” he said.

Buchanan said she thinks creatively and takes on the job’s physical tasks in different ways than men, who are typically taller with more muscle mass, do. 

“I had to think of ways that I could do the same thing that they can do without using all my muscles. So I have to just work, well, think, smarter, not harder,” she said. 

There are no women apprentices currently participating in CPP’s lineworker apprenticeship program, Dean said. Buchanan said she knows a woman currently working as a driver who is interested in becoming a lineworker apprentice. 

Apprentices will face obstacles during their time in the program, Buchanan said. The main piece of advice she would give to incoming apprentices is not to give up when faced with these challenges, she said. 

Buchanan is a mother of two, and she had one of her children when she was an apprentice in the program. “This job is hard itself. Then, I have to go home and do another job: be a mom,” she said. She sees linework as a long-term career and hopes more women will take this path. 

“I think when women see that other women can do it, then they will have more interest in it. Because this is a male-dominated field. And that kind of wanted to turn me away at first, but then I’m just like, ‘If they could do it, I could do it. I just had that attitude,’” Buchanan said.

To learn more about Cleveland Public Power’s apprenticeship programs and apply, visit the utility’s website or call 216-664-3300.