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Prisoner
Matthew
McAfee
studies
climbing
material
at the
Parnall
Correctional
Facility's
Vocational
Village
in
Jackson,
Mich.,
Thursday,
Dec. 1,
2022.
McAfee
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.
(AP
Photo/Paul
Sancya) |
| |
Michigan
program
trains
prisoners
to trim
around
power
lines
By COREY
WILLIAMS
apnews.com
JACKSON,
MI -
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
responsible
for 70%
of its
power
outages.
DTE
Energy
often
hires
trimmers
from
other
states
to clear
lines
during
major
outages.
“They
follow
the
storms.
That’s
where
the
money
is,”
said
Terrell
Lockhart,
a
manager
at DTE
Energy.
“All
this
money is
going to
out-of-staters.
We can
save
that
money.
We can
do good
for the
local
community
by
making
this
upfront
investment.”
An Aug.
29 storm
with
winds
that
topped
70 mph
(113
kph)
downed
trees,
branches
and
power
lines
leaving
more
than
400,000
homes
and
businesses
in
Michigan
without
power.
DTE
Energy
reported
that
more
than
231,000
of their
customers
were
without
power.
The
previous
year,
nearly a
million
utility
customers
in
Michigan
lost
power
during a
major
storm.
This
fall,
Michigan’s
Public
Service
Commission
ordered
DTE
Electric
Co. and
Jackson-based
Consumers
Energy
to
report
their
compliance
with
regulations
— and
past
orders
on
outages
and
downed
lines.
The
order
was born
out of
growing
concern
about
the lack
of
progress
in
reducing
power
outages
and
preventing
the
public’s
contact
with
downed
power
lines.
“We
still
need a
ton of
tree
trimmers,”
Lockhart
said.
“Trees,
they’re
constantly
growing.”
In April
2021,
DTE
Energy
partnered
with
IBEW
Local
17, the
city of
Detroit
and
nonprofits
to
recruit
residents
from the
city and
surrounding
communities
to
enroll
in its
Tree
Trim
Academy.
The goal
is to
train
local
residents
on line
clearing.
Half of
the 59
graduates
from the
academy’s
pilot
class
are
Detroit
residents.
Forty-seven
graduates
are
people
of color
and six
are
women.
So far,
about
100
people
have
graduated
from the
academy.
More
than 80
graduates
have
been
hired by
tree
trimming
companies
and are
working
on
projects.
Students
in the
academy
earn a
daily
stipend
of $50
for the
first
two
weeks of
career
prep
curriculum,
which
then
increases
to $100
for the
remaining
five
weeks of
the
program
— when
they’re
taught
line
clearance,
safety,
use of
tools
and
machinery,
and
climbing.
As a
woodsman,
pay
starts
at
$17.50
per hour
plus
benefits.
After
two and
a half
years,
when
workers
reach
journeyman
status,
pay
increases
to
nearly
$32 per
hour.
They
also
receive
benefits.
“Due to
the
large
amount
of
overtime,
a
journeyman
line
clearance
tree
trimmer
can make
$70,000
to
$120,000
per
year,
give or
take,”
Shaw
said.
Sean
Anderson
calls
the
program
a “life
changer.”
The
29-year-old
Detroit
resident
was a
trainee
at the
academy
this
fall.
“I’ve
never
made
this
much
money
and I’ve
never
had a
career,
so I’ve
never
thought
about
ever
being in
a
situation
like
this,”
Anderson
said.
“But I’m
glad I’m
here
now.
Nobody
wants to
be
poor.”
Jeffrey
Gunnells
was
sentenced
in 2018
to up to
15 years
in
prison
for
armed
robbery
— and
was
paroled
last
April.
He
graduated
from the
program
at
Parnall
and is
now an
instructor
for the
program,
as well
as a
certified
arborist.
Since
the
partnership’s
start in
2019, 25
people
have
graduated
from the
program
at
Parnall.
“When
you’re
in
prison,
you’re
pretty
much
kicked
around
by a
pretty
cold
system.
Everybody
looks at
you as
somebody
who’s
been
untrustworthy,”
Gunnells
said.
“You
have
guys
that are
so
grateful
for an
opportunity
— and
they’re
hungry
to get
out
here,
and work
and
contribute
to the
wellbeing
of their
families
and
their
communities,
and
basically
redeem
themselves.”
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