Michigan Green - The Next Generation

May 30, 2008

When Al Zeits started a wind energy technology program at an Iowa community college in 2004, he optimistically expected 12 to 15 students per year to supply trained workers for a burgeoning local industry. He was off. In the current term, 60 students are enrolled and for fall 2008, he's expecting 90 students in the two-year program. Even so, the wind industry is still wondering if it will have enough qualified workers to operate and maintain -- let alone build -- dozens of projects from coast to coast.

And that's just one sliver of the overall utility industry that many characterize as in crisis mode because of its rapidly aging workforce. Utilities are trying to replace a workforce that could shrink by half through retirements over the next decade while simultaneously entering a boom phase in building needed generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. The acute labor shortage is recognized throughout the industry, which has led to innovative training and recruitment programs that enlist not just utilities and community colleges, but labor unions, government agencies and community-based organizations from coast-to-coast.

"One of the key things about the industry is that it's growing so fast, all these programs combined from all these community colleges still won't provide enough trained workers," Zeits said, whose program is one of dozens across the country.

The unique demands of utility work, which include the basics of electronics, math, hydraulics, engineering, the requirement to work outdoors in all kinds of weather, climb poles and towers -- wind towers often exceed 200 feet -- present a daunting challenge for some utility recruiters.

Even some innovative programs are planned not just to retrain existing workers for more duties but also to recruit and train new workers for thousands of jobs that will build, operate and maintain utility networks during the anticipated building boom. After deregulation of the electric industry started in earnest a decade ago, the relentless pressure to cut costs led to cost-cutting, reduced hiring and the dismantling of in-house training programs. Unions say a wave of buyouts of experienced workers continued in recent years, leading to an epidemic of forced overtime for those who remained.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is collaborating with utilities to jump-start training of a new generation of workers. Jim Hunter, IBEW's director of the 200,000-member utility branch, said final details are being worked out to create a joint union-utility trust fund to finance training of new workers and sharpen skills of existing employees. "This is something we've done for quite a long time on the construction side with contractors contributing 1 percent of payroll," he said. The union even envisions former workers imparting a lifetime of knowledge through these programs.

Best Practices

IBEW is proposing five centers set up in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Michigan and Washington by the summer at former utility facilities. These training facilities would serve the host utilities but other companies in surrounding areas and states.

Not only would the courses provide the skills needed by prospective employees who would go work for a utility, the centers also would screen applicants for their appropriate fit in different roles. Before mistakes might be made in placing an employee who is ill-suited for working in harsh weather, for instance, that person may have skills for power plant operations. There are also high failure rates in some entry-level screenings that many hope the programs would alleviate.

Meanwhile, the Center for Energy Workforce Development, which is an industry-led group, serves the electric, gas and nuclear industries. "Our focus is on the skilled crafts that our companies are telling us will become a critical need in the short term," said Mary Miller, the organization's president.

To that end the organization is identifying best practices, training methods and courses that can be replicated through apprenticeships, community colleges courses and other employment programs. It has started outreach efforts and was ready to launch a branding campaign. It holds regional meetings with member companies to share its experiences. It did so with Pacific Gas & Electric, which mirrors industry trends with 42 percent of union workers and 50 percent of management employees becoming eligible to retire within the next five years.

"We're beginning to put candidates in the pipeline as we are developing strategies to bring more workers into the skilled crafts and trades," said Van Ton-Quinlivan, director of workforce strategy and diversity at PG&E. A pilot program, Power Pathway, started in mid-March with its first 100 students, chosen from a pool of 3,700 applicants.

Ton-Quinlivan said the program is unique in that it will rely equally on three segments to help create qualified workers. The utility provides the expertise and training, with the potential of employment at the end. Community colleges provide facilities and knowledge in operating an educational program with candidates that need assistance in English and math. Community-based organizations, like workforce investment boards funded by government programs, identify qualified candidates and help shepherd them through the process. People who complete the 12-week course are considered "ready" to be hired by the company.

Furthermore, the Progress Energy Foundation, benefiting programs of the southeastern utility, distributed $1.6 million last year to continue existing programs at educational institutions throughout North Carolina and to develop new programs. It has had long-standing relationships to encourage students to pursue careers in nuclear engineering at universities, or to learn trades at community colleges, said Woodie Dicus, manager of corporate community relations for the Raleigh-based Foundation.

The Foundation and the human resources department at Progress Energy are currently planning high school programs to encourage students to pursue technical careers that could lead to a utility job, not necessarily at Progress.

While the various industry segments have reacted to the demographic trends, the challenge now is finding enough qualified candidates for when the full force of the retirement wave reaches the shore.

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