BVIEC linemen being trained to do maintenance without turning off power

LONG BUSH, Tortola, VI- A 12-week Live-Line Training Workshop for linemen is nearing a close as the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) aims to reduce power outages when conducting maintenance on the grid.

The programme is designed to assist team members in performing critical work without interrupting electricity supply to homes and businesses, the BVIEC said in the first episode of the BVIEC Live-Line Series posted to the company’s Facebook page on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

This means “fewer outages and a more resilient grid for the entire territory”.

The training is being instructed by Mr Tim Self, owner of Tim Self Powerline Safety and Training.

3 four-week sessions

Mr Self explained that the programme is done in three sessions of four weeks each.

The first cohort of linemen being trained under this Live-Line Training Workshop is presently in the third and final four-week session of their training.

“We are now back here at our third session, all of the training yard is energised at 13,200 volts,” Mr Self added, “They're doing all their tasks energised.”

During the final two weeks of the training, the linemen will do jobs across the island in “the real environment”, following which they graduate.