Retired Electric Lineman Brings Years of Experience to the Program

February 11 - Electric lineman Harold Rogers of Florence, S.C., has joined the staff at Richmond Community College to help with the ever-growing Electric Lineman program. Rogers brings with him 47 years of experience setting up transmission, distribution and underground power lines throughout North and South Carolina.

“I’ve got this knowledge, so why not pass it on to someone else,” said Rogers, who is coming out of retirement to teach the next generation of linemen. “If I can help someone by passing on this knowledge, then I’d rather do that than sit around and do nothing.”

Rogers started working in the utility industry in 1964 at Sumter Builders in South Carolina. He has traveled up and down the Eastern Seaboard as a supervisor for crews setting up transmission and distribution lines, and he has been as far west as Texas in the wake of hurricanes and ice storms.

After 33 years with Sumter Builders, Rogers started working for Lee Electrical Construction Inc. out of Aberdeen. He retired from Lee Electrical in 2011.

“Not everybody is cut out to be a lineman. For one, you can’t be afraid of electricity, but you've got to respect it,” Rogers said. “There’s a good future in this line of work. If everyone will follow all the safety precautions, it’s just as safe as any other job out there. And a good paying one, too.”

Two of Rogers’s sons, Johnny and Bobby, followed in his footsteps working in the utility industry. In fact, it was his oldest son, Johnny, who told him about the need for another lineman instructor when he came to RichmondCC to take a Transformer Concepts class.

Rogers joins Electric Lineman Program Coordinator Scott Caulder and another instructor, Mitch Daugherty, on the staff at RichmondCC. The combined work history of all three men in the utility industry equals more than 100 years of experience.   

“I am so excited and blessed to have the wisdom of an instructor like Harold Rogers. He brings with him years of professional knowledge stringing conductors and line construction in general,” Caulder said. “He is a great asset to our team.”

Rogers comes on board as RichmondCC’s sixth lineman class gets underway. The next class that begins May 17 has only a few seats available. A fall class will begin Sept. 7. For more information or to sign up, contact Programming Assistant Alicia Butler at (910) 410-1706 or ambutler979@richmondcc.edu. The class is being offered for a limited time only price of $499. The total value of the class is $1,390.