Utility route · the written test

The EEI CAST test

CAST is the Edison Electric Institute’s Construction and Skilled Trades Selection System. Utilities use it to screen applicants for transmission and distribution, facilities and meter jobs, including lineman. EEI doesn’t give the test to applicants itself: the utility invites you, gives it, and sets its own passing result.

Checked against official pages October 24, 2026. Non-official sources are labeled.

Where the free official practice is →Which utilities use CAST

The sections

From EEI’s CAST brochure (the original battery):

Section	Questions	Time	Pace	In CAST-R?
Graphic Arithmetic	16	30 min	~1.9 min	Yes
Mechanical Concepts	44	20 min	~27 sec	Yes
Reading for Comprehension	32	30 min	~56 sec	Yes
Mathematical Usage	18	7 min	~23 sec	No (replaced by the Work Preferences Inventory)

That’s 110 timed questions in 87 minutes. EEI says CAST can be given in about two hours; Ameren says its sitting runs about two and a half hours with one ten-minute break.

Graphic Arithmetic: working out measurements and quantities from drawings. In EEI’s CAST-R practice, one drawing is followed by several questions.
Mechanical Concepts: pictures of mechanical situations (EEI’s examples include air in a cylinder and a beam lifted on a cable) and how they behave. The pace is brutal: about 27 seconds each.
Reading for Comprehension: passages with questions about what they say.
Mathematical Usage (original CAST only): basic math problems using information given at the start of the test, at about 23 seconds each.

How it’s scored

“There is no penalty for guessing or wrong answers,” per EEI. The section scores are combined into an index from 1 to 10, and the utility turns that into its own result. Ameren, for example, reports “Recommended” or “Not Recommended.” Each utility sets its own bar; Ameren, for example, says it has a “threshold.” We found no utility that publishes the number.

Retakes

Set by the utility, not EEI. The ones that publish a rule:

Ameren: after 30 days for most roles, if invited, up to three attempts per calendar year.
LG&E and KU: not within 90 days of the test date.
Duke Energy: every 90 days (though Duke’s lineworker test is now the VAL, not CAST; see utility tests).

How it’s different from the IBEW test

The IBEW outside-line programs’ aptitude test is algebra and reading at about 84 seconds a question. CAST adds mechanical concepts and graphic arithmetic, runs much faster, and is given by the utility you’re applying to. If you’re applying both ways, the reading carries over; the mechanical section is its own skill.

Common questions

Is the CAST test hard?

The content is basic, but the clock is tight: the original CAST gives 20 minutes for 44 mechanical questions, about 27 seconds each. Speed is what most people need to practice.

What is CAST-R?

The revised battery. EEI’s own practice document lists four tests: Graphic Arithmetic, Mechanical Concepts, Reading for Comprehension and a Work Preferences Inventory. Mathematical Usage is gone, and EEI provides no practice for the Work Preferences Inventory.

What does “CAST B” mean?

We found no EEI document that defines “CAST B”, “POSS B” or “TECH B.” EEI’s official list names CAST, POSS, MASS, TECH, SO/PDII, MRAB, CSR, SASS and CADI. If a utility uses a letter, ask that utility what it means.

Do CAST scores transfer between utilities?

It depends on the utility. Ameren says it accepts a “Recommended” result from another company if it falls within Ameren’s threshold. Most utilities don’t publish a rule, so ask.

Where these facts come from · all checked October 24, 2026