Top Experts Cite Aging Work Force and Low Carbon Transition

Oct. 1, 2009

Call for Investment and Reform of Existing Energy Worker Training and Education

Washington, DC – A new report released today by a task force of leading energy workforce experts finds that the U.S. is facing a critical shortage of trained professionals to maintain the existing electric power system and to design, build, and operate the future electric power systems.

In the new study, the Task Force on America’s Future Energy Jobs, convened by the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), examined the ability of the current worker training and education system in the United States to provide a workforce with the ability to maintain a highly reliable, economically affordable electric power system while modernizing the nation’s electric generating infrastructure to support an advanced, low-carbon energy portfolio.

The bipartisan group composed of experts from labor, the electric power industry and the training and educational sectors found opportunity amidst the looming workforce challenges to create new high-skill, high paying jobs in the energy sector at a time when growing numbers of Americans are unemployed or underemployed.

“The challenge is looming, with 30 to 40 percent of the 400,000-strong electric power workforce eligible for retirement in the next five years, the industry needs to prepare to meet a long-term, sustained need for training. Which kinds of jobs are created, and how many, will be determined by how soon and how seriously we make the transition to a low-carbon energy economy,” said Task Force Participant Paul Allen, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Environmental Officer, Constellation Energy.

According to Task Force Participant Bob Baugh, Executive Director of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Union Council, “by 2020, the electric power sector could require as many as 150,000 workers to create a low-carbon energy system. The Task Force Report On America's Future Energy Jobs identifies the demographic and institutional challenges this sector faces while also offering a clear set of recommendations for business, unions, education and government to lead the way forward.”

The Task Force report identified several key issues:

• A decline in career and technical education has stressed the electric power sector’s training capacity. The career and technical education system, which prepared students to work in the skilled crafts, has declined in the past two decades. Since the mid-1990s, the number of high school students taking trade- or industry-related career and technical courses has declined 35 percent. Compounding this problem, national science assessment tests rate 47 percent of U.S. twelfth graders as having below basic proficiency in understanding scientific concepts, 35 percent have a basic understanding, 16 percent are considered proficient, and only 2 percent are considered advanced. By this measure, at most 53 percent of high school graduates and probably only 18 percent are prepared to enter technical careers upon high school graduation. As a result, individuals do not have the skills they need to succeed in apprenticeship programs or in-house training programs.
• A large percentage of the electric power sector workforce is nearing retirement. The electric power sector directly employs about 400,000 people, 30 to 40 percent of whom will be eligible for retirement or will leave the industry for other reasons within the next five years. Compounding this demographic shift, many workers appear to be delaying retirement due to the economic downturn, and this could create a larger disconnect if workers retire en masse when economic conditions improve.
• Creating a low carbon energy system will require more workers with new skills. In addition to replacing retiring workers, the industry will need an unprecedented number of skilled workers to design, construct, and operate the next generation of electric sector infrastructure. By the 2020’s, design and construction in the electric power sector could require as many as 150,000 workers, roughly equivalent to 40 percent of the workforce employed to operate and maintain the current electric power sector. Similarly, by 2030, roughly 60,000 people will be needed to operate and maintain new generating assets, or 15 percent above the current workforce.

Based on these findings, the Task Force developed several policy recommendations:

1. Evaluate regional training needs and facilitate multi-stakeholder energy sector training programs across the country.
2. Improve energy sector workforce data collection and performance measurement metrics and tools.
3. Identify training standards and best practices for energy sector jobs.
4. Provide funding support to individuals seeking energy sector related training and education.
5. Aggressively focus on revitalizing the math and science skills, education, and career counseling of individuals who have the interest and skills to work in the energy sector.

Additional comments from Task Force Participants:
“This report confirms that the energy industry will soon face three significant challenges. One is the massive number of people who will be retiring soon. Two is the large number of skilled construction workers needed to build the next generation of energy sources, and three is the people to operate and maintain this new infrastructure.” Jim Hunter, Director, IBEW Utility Department, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

“PG&E and other utilities see great value in partnering with local community colleges, workforce investment boards, and unions to enlarge the local talent pool able to compete for our jobs. PG&E’s PowerPathway(tm) program is one example of how such private-public synergies resulted in veterans and candidates from underserved communities being able to effectively transition to the electric power sector. ” Van Ton-Quinlivan, Director - Workforce Development, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)

“If too few individuals with the necessary expertise are available when they are needed, workforce bottlenecks could slow the transition to a low-carbon economy regardless of the commercial readiness of the underlying technologies.” Bob Powers, President, AEP Utilities, American Electric Power

“Community colleges are well-positioned to provide the kind of training and re-training programs that will be needed as the United States transitions to a low-carbon economy.” Barbara Hins-Turner, Executive Director Center of Excellence for Energy Technology, Centralia College (WA)

Complete copies of the report may be found at www.energycommission.org

A technical analysis of the future demand for energy sector jobs was conducted by Bechtel Power Corporation. Consulting support for the Task Force was provided by M.J. Bradley & Associates LLC.

The members of the Task Force on America’s Future Energy Jobs are:

Task Force Participants

Paul Allen
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Chief Environmental Officer
Constellation Energy

Bill Banig
Legislature Director
United Mine Workers of America

Bob Baugh
Executive Director, Industrial Union Council
AFL-CIO

Abe Breehey
Director of Legislative Affairs
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

Marcy Drummond
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Los Angeles Trade Technical College

Dr. Scott Farrow
Chair of Economics Department
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Barbara Hins-Turner
Executive Director
Center of Excellence for Energy Technology, Centralia College (WA)

Jim Hunter
Director, IBEW Utility Department
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Dr. Nicholas P. Jones
Dean, G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering
Johns Hopkins University

Gary Kaplan
Executive Director
JFYNetWorks

Janice Kuczynski
Manager of Developmental Roles
Exelon Nuclear

David Manning
Executive Vice President, U.S. External Affairs
National Grid

Robert J. Pleasure
Director of Education, Building and Construction Trades Department
AFL-CIO

Dr. Nan Poppe
Campus President
Portland Community College

Bob Powers
President, AEP Utilities
American Electric Power

Roxanne Richards
Director, Workforce Development
Midwest Generation
Edison Mission Group

Van Ton-Quinlivan
Director, Strategic HR Programs
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)

Jason Walsh
National Policy Director
Green For All

Jeff Williams
Manager, Corporate Environmental Initiatives
Entergy Corporation

Task Force Advisors

Advisors to the Task Force on America’s Future Energy Jobs provided invaluable technical input and information but did not participate in Task Force decisions aimed at developing policy recommendations. Therefore Task Force advisors do not endorse the recommendations put forward in this white paper.

Carol Berrigan
Senior Director, Industry Infrastructure
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)

Ian Copeland
President, Power - New Technology
Bechtel Power Corporation

Joan Glickman
Special Assistant, Renewable Energy
U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. Nancy Grasmick
State Superintendent of Schools
State of Maryland

Lydia Logan
Executive Director
Institute for a Competitive Workforce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Mary Miller
Vice President of Human Resources
Edison Electric Institute

Ann Randazzo
Director
Center for Energy and Workforce Development (CEWD)

William Stevens
Senior Power Technology Advisor
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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National Commission on Energy Policy