Lack of Trained Workforce Still an Obstacle to Smart Grid Success

Ever since the phrase “smart grid” started showing up in news articles, analysts have been looking at what it would take for a smarter power grid to deliver on promises of energy savings, reduced emissions and lower bills.

They have discovered one huge need that isn't being addressed: enough workers trained to do such things as conduct energy audits, help perform energy-efficient retrofits of buildings and install the sensors and transmitters necessary to make the grid smart.

New studies from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory calculate just how many trained workers will be needed to implement the smart grid in the United States, and, more importantly, they reveal that no one really knows where those workers will come from. 

“There is a shortage of formal training programs in energy efficiency and an extremely high demand right now thanks to the infusion of funding for energy efficiency from the growth in ratepayer-funded utility programs and federal and state budgets devoted to efficiency, for example, in programs funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said Charles H. Goldman, a scientist in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Berkeley Lab.

Workers Needed at Every Level

Green job training programs, since their inception, have largely focused on training rooftop solar installers — a necessary trade, but one that is currently less in demand than utility workers who understand energy efficiency.

The rollout of the smart grid won’t create just green-collar jobs. The Berkeley Lab report cites three areas where qualified workers are needed: senior management staff with experience in the energy efficiency sector, experienced energy efficiency engineers, and building and construction tradespeople trained in the energy efficiency sector.

After conducting interviews with 33 professionals at universities throughout the country, however, the Berkeley Lab team surmised that while most professional roles within the energy efficiency services sector require at least a four-year degree, few colleges or universities offer energy efficiency-specific curricula and those that do are typically dealing with extremely limited funding.

The largest need is still for skilled tradespeople, with the building and construction industries accounting for 65 to 70 percent of the workforce in the energy efficiency services sector, according to the Berkeley Lab report.

“The building and construction trades and contractors have limited awareness that the energy efficiency service sector is poised to grow significantly, and that their skills will be required as part of this growth,” says report co-author Jane S. Peters.

In addition to needing laborers trained specifically in energy efficiency, the building and utility industries are both struggling with the reality of an aging labor force that is not being augmented quickly enough by new recruits.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average utility employee is 43.7 years old, and the median age will continue to increase over the next 25 years. More than 148,000 U.S. utility employees fall in the 55-to-64-year-old range; an additional 26,000 employees are already over age 65. A recent study published by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) showed that 61 percent of line superintendents are age 50 or older and preparing to retire in the next five to 10 years.

“The imminent loss of such a large number of highly skilled utility professionals, whose considerable training and expertise is extremely valuable to both utility performance and safety, represents a growing dilemma within the power industry,” writes Wayne Bishop Jr. of Doble Engineering Co., who conducted an assessment of the industry's aging workforce.

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