Michigan program trains prisoners to trim around power lines
JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — When Scott Steffes leaves Michigan's Parnall Correctional Facility this month he anticipates entering a new career that will take him upward of 25 feet (7.6 meters) above ground.
Steffes, 37, is one of more than a dozen prisoners learning how to climb trees and trim branches around power lines as part of DTE Energy's $70 million plan to improve the utility's electric infrastructure.
“This has helped my situation in getting prepared for the outside world,” Steffes said, minutes after lowering himself by rope from wooden posts in one of the yards outside Parnall’s Vocational Village, 78 miles (125 kilometers) west of Detroit.
Prisoners who participate in the tree-trimming program at Vocational Village receive a daily stipend of between 94 cents and $1.31.
Steffes has served four years for domestic violence. He previously served time for theft and larceny.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do upon my release,” he continued. “I didn’t know where my life was headed."
His release date is Jan. 17. By the following Tuesday he expects to be on the job with one of a number of companies contracted by Detroit-based DTE Energy.
Line trimmers "are extremely in demand, right now,” said James Shaw, business manager of Local 17 for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “As we start rebuilding the electrical infrastructure around the country, a lot of it is clearing the lines. Customers don’t want to be out of power.”
The union partners with DTE Energy, one of Michigan’s largest electric utilities, on the prison program as well as a tree-trimming training program.
Both are unique to the state and U.S., according to a DTE Energy spokesperson.
The utility says fallen trees and branches are...