There has never been a greater need for qualified electricity meter installers in Northern Ireland. With that in mind, Northern Regional College has partnered with NIE Networks to deliver bespoke training. 

The move is in response to the identified need for additional staff with a specific skillset after it emerged that over one million meters are to be replaced across Northern Ireland.

The College liaised with key stakeholders to create a recognised electrical installation qualification alongside the specialist training needed to develop the necessary skills to replace the meters.

The training delivered by the College will be complemented by NIE Networks own in-house training.

Following a rigorous internal selection process, the first cohort of 11 Training Metering Operatives was selected from NIE Networks’ existing pool of meter readers.

During the two-year training programme, they will spend one day at the College’s Newtownabbey campus, two days at NIE Networks training facilities and two days on-site installing the new metering equipment.

In-house training for the trainees commenced in March this year and training at Northern Regional College’s new emerging technologies workshop at the Newtownabbey campus got underway at the start of the 2022/23 academic year.

NIE Networks has provided new branded electric vehicles for trainees on the Training Metering Operative course.

Michael Breen, Electrical Installation lecturer at the College, explained why they had developed the specialist training programme for their long-standing partner, NIE Networks.

“Last August, NIE Networks asked the College to create a new programme, following an identified need for more electric meter installers,” he said.

“Over a million meters must be replaced across Northern Ireland, so the company wanted to increase its pool of meter installation operatives by upskilling its existing meter readers.

“I developed four bespoke modules and to ensure that we could deliver the training, the College invested in the development of a new dedicated workshop for emerging technologies at the Newtownabbey campus.”

Barry O’Lone, Meter Recertification Team Manager at NIE Networks said that there is a legal requirement for all electricity meters in Northern Ireland to be replaced.

“At present there are approximately 1.1 million meters both commercial and domestic and the meter replacement is deemed essential maintenance in order to maintain a safe and reliable electricity supply to all our customers,” he said.

“With smart metering on the horizon in Northern Ireland, the demand for meter replacement is going to rise significantly.”

Traditionally, we employed time served electricians and put them through a 10-week training programme but we have found the recruitment process more challenging due to demand for this skillset so decided to rethink the process.” 

We have approximately 110 Meter Readers but until now they had very few opportunities for progression. These colleagues are semi-skilled so we decided to explore a route which would give them progression opportunities and address the company’s requirement going forward.”

Barry continued: “Northern Regional College was very supportive and allocated a significant amount of time to develop a bespoke course.  The content developed was high quality and specific NIE Network topics were also included. 

“The energy market is changing at a rapid pace and we need our workforce to be experts as they will be leading the way in meeting our renewable energy targets. The partnership with the College is therefore very important and we would like to thank them for all their support and work in establishing this new qualification.” 

While the course was being developed, a recruitment process was underway in NIE Networks to recruit 11 meter readers who wished to retrain/reskill and progress. The successful candidates started their training at the College’s Newtownabbey campus in September.

On successful completion, the newly qualified metering electricians will be authorised before working full time on the network and continuing with their training via the NIE Networks Skills Matrix Training Programme.

Trade union, Unite the Union and NIE Networks believe the bespoke training delivered by Northern Regional College will provide a progressive step in providing a progression path for existing employees that did not previously exist.

Going forward the company will be in better positioned to resource and safely deliver the extensive Meter Recertification Project, the New Meter Installation Programme, Smart Metering (once it is given the green light) and Smart Technologies to facilitate Electric Vehicle charging.

Among the eleven new trainees on the Training Metering Operative programme is John Boyd from Ballyclare who first attended the Newtownabbey campus 40 years ago as an engineering student.

“Coming back through the gates today was like a trip down memory lane. There’s been some changes since I was last here and it is strange to be back but I’m really looking forward to doing the course,” said John, who has been working as a meter reader with NIE Networks since 2010.

Paul Slavin from Derry has been a meter reader with NIE Networks for the past 24 years. He said he jumped at the chance to do the training programme.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to develop new skills and get formal qualifications, so I’m delighted to be involved in the training programme.”