As data centers test Wisconsin’s electrical grid, job opportunities flourish 60 feet in the air

Reading Time: 9 minutes Click here to read highlights from the story Electrical line work pays a median salary of more than $95,000 and does not require a college degree. The demand for electricity, driven by data centers, means line workers enjoy job security and union benefits in addition to their salaries. However, the work can be dangerous, with line workers exposed to the elements, heights and thousands of volts of power. Wisconsin Watch visited a pre-apprenticeship program at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau that trains 14 students annually to learn more about the work. On a sunny morning in late August, a dozen teenagers wearing reflective vests and work boots stand on a hill overlooking the farm fields of their central Wisconsin college. A few steps away is the classroom where they’ll learn how electricity works. Beside it, a handful of poles six stories tall mark the training yard where they’ll train to install and repair power lines, a skill tha