POWER June 2014 - 54

WORKFORCE
New Technology Is Key to
Recruiting New Power Workforce
With so many career options to choose from, what can the power generation
industry do to draw young people into the fold? Well, if you visit a modern
educational institution, you may find that technology and advanced simulators
can make the profession seem pretty inviting.
Aaron Larson
I
t is an exciting time to be a part of the
energy industry. New technology is being
developed in almost every sector of
the business. The coal industry is working on
carbon capture and storage solutions, nuclear
professionals are creating new Generation IV
reactors, solar developments include things
like photovoltaic windows for skyscrapers,
and energy storage solutions continue to
improve, with some experts predicting an
explosion of grid-scale deployments as soon
as this year (see " The Year Energy Storage
Hit Its Stride " in the May issue of POWER,
online at powermag.com).
There are a lot of job opportunities in the
industry as well. Because such a large number
of employees are eligible to retire in this decade,
the Energy Providers Coalition for Education
(EPCE) expects that 62% of employees
in the energy industry will need to be replaced
by 2020. For the most part, these jobs must
be filled locally and can't be outsourced overseas,
which means personnel with the right
training and education can pretty much punch
their ticket to a well-paying job with excellent
benefits. (For more on education and employment
trends, see the sidebar.)
While the U.S. unemployment rate has
been on a steady decline since October 2009,
it still stood at 6.7% as of March 2014. People
are looking for jobs; the problem is that
most of the currently unemployed just aren't
qualified to fill the utility industry's needs.
They don't have the necessary training for
the positions.
Industry-Focused Education
" Across the United States, utility companies-every
one of them-has a relationship
with a community college or a university, "
said Matt Sadinsky, CEO of Prequalified
Ready Employees for Power International, a
talent development and recruiting company
for the energy industry. The connection benefits
both partners. The utility gains a valuable
future employee resource, because students
of the institution will be trained to meet the
54
needs of the company-assuming that the
curriculum includes courses appropriate to
utility work. The college or university placement
office gets a potential hiring resource
that is looking for its qualified graduates. It is
definitely a win-win situation.
Otter Tail Power Co.'s Big Stone Plant
(BSP) offers an example of one such successful
partnership. (Disclosure: I am a
former BSP employee.) BSP is a 475-MW
coal-fired power plant in eastern South Dakota.
In 2006, Plant Manager Jeff Endrizzi
could see the writing on the wall. The plant,
then staffed with 75 personnel, had dealt
with very little employee turnover up to that
point-averaging only one retirement every
18 months-but Endrizzi projected that the
plant would see 51 employees head for the
door between 2012 and 2025 based upon the
ages of the staff at the time.
" I took a chart to Lake Area Technical Institute
(LATI) in Watertown, S.D., in 2006 to
explain our expected needs, " Endrizzi said.
" LATI had established programs for electronics,
robotics, welding, and machining,
and we had hired several graduates in the
past. However, our upcoming retirements
were from the mechanical maintenance and
operations departments, and no program at
LATI, or any other technical institute in the
area, trained candidates for these positions. "
Endrizzi met with Deb Shephard, the vice
president of LATI at the time, to discuss possible
program additions at the school. Although
BSP's needs alone weren't great enough to
support new programs, Endrizzi encouraged
Shepard to visit with other facilities in the area
to determine if there was a broader regional
need. Those conversations led LATI to develop
its energy technology program and, later, an
energy operations program. BSP employees
continue to serve in an advisory capacity for
each of those programs, as well as for LATI's
welding and robotics programs.
" Our rural location can add to the challenges
of attracting workers, " said Endrizzi.
To counter that, Otter Tail provides scholwww.powermag.com
arships
for technical institute students in
pertinent programs and works to maintain
relationships with the students and instructors
in those programs. " Those of us that live
here understand and appreciate the benefits
of small town life, but that isn't enough at
times, " Endrizzi added.
Online Resources
While utilities work with their local institutions,
online learning resources have expanded
greatly with the Internet. (See " Going the
Distance: Online Courses for Power Industry
Professionals " in the June 2012 issue or online
at powermag.com.) EPCE was formed in
2000 as a nonprofit alliance of industry individuals,
utilities, companies, associations,
unions, and other organizations to work together
to develop the most relevant and timely
energy education programs.
Offered entirely online, EPCE's educational
programs have been developed by the industry,
for the industry. EPCE does not offer courses
itself; instead, it partners with colleges and universities
that are among the best in the nation
at providing education online. Classes are fully
accredited and completely transferrable.
EPCE's educational partners include
Clemson University, Worcester Polytechnic
Institute, Bismarck State College (BSC),
Excelsior College, and VHS Collaborative.
According to EPCE, studies have shown
that students in online courses perform better
than those learning the same material
through face-to-face instruction, so this new
educational model seems to be working.
A Long Track Record
Of course, online classes are not for everyone;
some prefer the traditional approach. With its
main campus in Bismarck, N.D., BSC has
been training personnel to enter the energy
industry for quite some time. In 1970, the
school identified an industry need for electrical
line workers, and it began a program
to fill that niche. The program's success led
to the development of the first power plant
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POWER June 2014

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