Phone: 800.279.2667 | Fax: 701.577.3777
Safety and Service Certified
Image
Operations Manager Matt Glueckert, Distribution Superintendent Kelly Lesmeister, lineworker apprenticeship graduates Benson Huber, Brian Bonnet, Dawson Hall and General Manager Alex Vournas, left to right, attend the recognition of the lineworker apprentices.
Safety and Service Certified
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative (MWEC) recently received two safety awards and had eight employees honored for completing apprenticeships at the annual North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) Apprenticeship, Training and Safety Conference.
Investing in ongoing training, such as these programs through NDAREC, helps ensure we maintain the highest standards of safety and dependability.
Lineworker Apprenticeship
Graduates complete 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, including the modules and tests required for a lineworker apprenticeship, along with around 500 hours of correspondence studies.
Upon completion of the program’s four years of on-the-job training and independent study, NDAREC considers each graduate fully qualified to take on the vital responsibilities of ensuring safe and reliable electric service for North Dakotans.
Eleven individuals from electric cooperatives throughout North Dakota, including MWEC employees Brian Bonnet, Benson Huber and Dawson Hall, were recognized for completing the lineworker apprenticeship in 2025.
Meter Technician Apprenticeship
The metering technician apprenticeship program prepares employees to work with the necessary expertise in revenue watt-hour meter maintenance. This includes calibration, repair and
testing of single and poly-phase self-contained and transformer-rated meters, installation and verification of transformer-rated meters, and modification and troubleshooting of electric meters.
Similar to the lineworker apprenticeship, this program requires thousands of hours of on-the-job training and hundreds of hours of studies.
MWEC employee Danny Alberts was one of two electric cooperative employees to receive certification this year.
Image
Operations Manager Matt Glueckert, Metering/Relay Coordinator Matt Elsbernd, meter technician graduate Danny Alberts and General Manager Alex Vournas, left to right, attend the recognition of the meter technician apprentice.
Substation and Relay Technician Apprenticeships
The relay technician apprenticeship was a new addition to NDAREC’s training programs. It trains apprentices to install, maintain and test protective relay systems used in electric power grids. These relays are essential for detecting faults and ensuring the safe and efficient operation of electrical systems, helping protect people and equipment.
With a growth surge over the past decade, MWEC saw a need for increased substation technician training. Partnering with NDAREC and other North Dakota cooperatives, a program was built. NDAREC was already familiar with apprenticeship programs, so the framework was already in place.
“I’d consider working in substations a very specialized job,” says Steve Peterson, MWEC substation division manager. “We typically don’t see many applicants with any prior substation experience, which exposed a need.”
Image
Operations Manager Matt Glueckert, relay technician graduates Todd Bustad, Shawn Erickson, Lukas Dahl, Brandon Blomberg, Substation Division Manager Steve Peterson and General Manager Alex Vournas, left to right, attend the recognition of the relay technician apprentices.
“Our employees gain an understanding of working safely in a substation, an environment where they are exposed to dangerous voltages.”
Several meetings were held to determine the criteria for the program, which resulted in two new programs, including substation technician and relay technician. The program creates well-trained and qualified employees to work safely in dangerous environments, with a deep understanding of the equipment inside of a substation to provide reliable power.
“Our employees gain an understanding of working safely in a substation, an environment where they are exposed to dangerous voltages,” Peterson says. “By testing the protection system and equipment within a substation, we are verifying the electrical system will respond as intended under abnormal system conditions, meaning increased safety for our members and the public.”
Finishing an apprenticeship is just another beginning as we look forward to continuing to invest in the education and training of our employees to better serve our members.
In its first year, all four electric cooperative employees who completed the program were from MWEC. Todd Bustad, Shawn Erickson, Lukas Dahl and Brandon Blomberg are the first to receive this certification through NDAREC.
Safety Awards
MWEC’s investment in education and training shined brightly as we were one of 14 electric cooperatives recognized for our outstanding safety achievements.
The first award was the Safety Performance Award. This award is presented to electric cooperatives with zero recordable injuries for one year. MWEC was one of nine in this category.
The second award was the certificate of safety achievement. This award is presented to electric cooperatives for their successful participation in the Rural Electric Safety Achievement
Program (RESAP).
RESAP is a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association national safety program that provides the framework to help optimize safety practices, fostering improved safety behavior in the lives of electric cooperative employees across the United States.
We want to congratulate our employees who completed their apprenticeship programs and thank all of our staff for their continued work to keep safety a priority.
Image
Steve Peterson accepts the certificate of safety achievement from NDAREC safety instructors Mike Koenig and Jeff Tweeten.
Image
Kelly Lesmeister accepts the Safety Performance Award from NDAREC safety instructors Mike Koenig and Jeff Tweeten.