Contractor Enrollment

EnergyU combines the experience and talent of over 100 member utilities in the creation of an industry-consensus training and testing system for Distribution, Transmission, Liquids Operators, and you, their contractors.

EnergyU is North America’s most comprehensive online learning portal, providing energy industry employees with training for basic utility education, operator qualification (OQ), electric line work, and leadership development.

MEA is a confirming agent for records in EnergyU only. Companies are responsible for the accuracy of their own records.

Step 1 – Does your operator use MEA’s EnergyU?
Review a list of current MEA Utility Members.
Step 2 – How EnergyU Works
Primarily delivered as an online program, the system is flexible enough to allow both classroom and online teaching methods. As learners master each topic, EnergyU provides a secure testing mechanism, again online, to confirm that learners have retained each topic. Following this, EnergyU provides a strict methodology for hands-on field testing for each topic, as needed.
Customizable and broadly accepted, EnergyU is the complete solution for your energy industry training needs.
EnergyU provides courses for all segments of the industry, including Gas (rule 192), Liquids (rule 195), ASME-B31Q (combining gas and liquid courses), OSHA, Basic Utility, Electric, and Leadership courses in conjunction with SkillSoft and Harvard at MEA’s Leadership Academy. Upon purchase of an EnergyU license, a learner can be assigned any or all courses from within a specific library. You’ll pay the same low fee for as many courses as you want from within each library. Complete course libraries can be found at EnergyU.org.
Cost Savings AND Quality Don’t Often Intersect
But they do here. EnergyU is simple and straightforward. Because it was designed by a number of distribution and transmission utilities, it is an industry-standard model. Yet because MEA is a not-for-profit association, we are able to keep our prices low. Over 23,000 employees already train and prove their skill using EnergyU, from the largest to the smallest energy companies across the country. Together our members are already saving 50% on the typical learning management system and 30% on third-party courses. Our volume helps us keep your pricing down. Add in the MEA courses designed by our hands-on experts, and the savings multiply.

Step 3 – Enrolling in EnergyU

MEA Membership*
Most companies using EnergyU choose to join MEA. Smaller companies can still participate as non-Member Subscribers. Membership has great advantages, like our many events for networking and sales, and the marketing benefits from placement in our directory and on our websites. Considering EnergyU’s price alone, companies with 20 or more employees will find a cost advantage in becoming a member because of member discounts.
*Membership is not required to enroll in EnergyU.
Enrollment
Purchase licenses for the total* number of employees who will be enrolling at EnergyU.*All companies need to enroll an administrator who will manage your EnergyU users. For example, if you have 5 learners and 1 administrator you will need 6 licenses.
Billing
Licenses may be renewed annually. While your employee is active in the system (i.e. has a license) their records are safely kept in a searchable database from which you can generate compliance and status reports.
Accessing EnergyU
In as little as one day, your employees can be using the system to take their training courses and knowledge assessments. It may take a few days to set up companies purchasing a large number of licenses.We’ll move quickly to give your company access, but it is strongly suggested that you speak with an MEA technical support specialist prior to set up. They will go over your qualification and record keeping requirements to ensure an accurate set up.For set up information contact Laura at (651) 289-9600 x106.

Step 4 – Administrator Orientation
MEA will provide one introductory* administrator training over the telephone and online to get you started in EnergyU. We hold quarterly full day training sessions on both system administration and content creation. Administrators will be notified when these optional classes are scheduled, the introductory admin training will be scheduled at your convenience.*There is no charge for the one introductory administrator training class.

Each administrator is given various rights in the system to add learners, reset passwords, schedule courses, develop company specific curriculum, track learner progress, and run various reports – essentially all of the features of a robust Learning Management System (LMS). Administrators can also author new courses or customize MEA courses with company specific information. It only takes two days of hands-on learning to become an accomplished course author and administrator.

Continued support is available just by contacting Laura at (651) 289-9600 x106.

Contractor Enrollment – OQ FAQ

Initial operator qualification requirements
In order to gain a qualification the learner must complete hands-on training, EnergyU testing and evaluation. For example, if contractor personnel have not performed a listed Covered Task the individual will need to pass the training, knowledge test, and performance evaluations in order to qualify on a particular operators Covered Task.

Subsequent qualification
In order to gain a subsequent qualification the learner must complete EnergyU testing and evaluation. For example, if contractor personnel have been working and performing a listed Covered Task the individual will need to pass the Covered Task Knowledge test and Performance evaluations in order to qualify on a particular operators Covered Task.

Working for an operator the first time
If contractor personnel have not worked for the operator in the past and want to qualify to perform work,

  • The individual will need to go through the training, testing, and performance evaluations in order to qualify on that operators Covered Tasks. Or
  • If the individual had previous training on the listed (MEA) courses required for that operators Covered Task qualification, the individual will not need further training (as long as the individual is currently qualified and the training course “was not” modified to meet that particular operators specifications). The individual will be required to pass the knowledge test and performance evaluations for the Covered Task in order to qualify on the Covered Tasks.

Covered tasks
Contact your operator for their covered task list.

Other 3rd party tasks
MEA recognizes other third party provider tasks. If you have third party tasks to transfer contact Marty Vita at (651) 289-9600 x131, for a task matrix which matches MEA tasks to other providers.

Evaluator
Per regulation “The persons performing evaluations should possess the required knowledge to ascertain an individual’s ability to perform covered tasks, and to substantiate an individual’s ability to recognize and react to abnormal operating conditions that might surface while performing those tasks.”

It is the recommendation of MEA that an evaluator possess the following credentials to be considered a “qualified” evaluator:

  • Minimum of five years field experience, or formal training, specific to the tasks he/she will be conducting evaluations on,
  • Provide at least three industry references, and
  • Attended a formal evaluator training course.