Ken Silverstein EnergyBiz Insider Editor-in-Chief

Those career professionals who work with people in the energy and utilities fields are adamant that there remains good opportunity within the industry but that companies are reluctant about hiring. That's because there is still a focus on core businesses and the pull-back that occurred a few years ago has yet to abate. Any recruitment now occurring is largely the result of crises -- not well-considered growth strategies.

"The loss of critical knowledge and the inability to find replacements with utility-specific skills are the two biggest challenges facing public power utilities as a result of the aging workforce," says a document put out by the American Public Power Association in Washington called "Work Force Planning for Public Power Utilities."

APPA surveyed 111 public power systems from 36 states. The group found that in the three years since it first began conducting such polls, a significant portion of the public power employment base will be eligible to retire during the next five to seven years. The positions that will experience the most retirements may also be the toughest to replace and include first-line supervisors, senior managers and general managers. Education is the key, it adds, noting that the deployment of new technologies is constantly changing the way utilities do business.

Another group, the Center for the Advancement of Process Technology at the College of the Mainland in Texas, says that the average age of the current process or manufacturing plants' staff is 50 or over, and it is estimated that at least 40 percent of the current workforce will retire in the next 10 years. That will create an additional demand for skilled employees, it says.

Utilities, of course, are trying to balance competing interests, namely the demands of credit rating agencies to reduce debt and to get their financial houses in order with the need to focus on growth and customer satisfaction. Indeed, Wall Street wants sound business plans that produce healthy gains for stocks while state and federal regulators require added investment in reliability. In either case, it takes people to make it happen but the extra costs weigh heavily on the decision-making process.

But, the industry's employment needs will only get greater. With the push to create large regional grids, for example, companies will have to acquire the talent that understands how to day-trade and structure long-term contracts. The point is that the grid has to be maximized at all times, which is something that those who deal in forward contracts understand.

Balancing Interests

Bismarck State College in Bismarck, N.D. is doing something about it. It has been offering instruction in power plant technology since the mid 1970s, and has expanded into electrical transmission and nuclear power technology courses. They mostly train "people off the street" in entry-level skilled jobs. And with the ease and ubiquitous nature of the Internet, most students earn two-year degrees through this medium.

"We have seen an explosion in our numbers," says Dan Schmidt, program manager for online energy technology at the college. "The industry came to us and asked us to develop a program. The feedback we get is that the students are learning and they know more of the why -- why they are doing their jobs and how it fits into the overall corporate mission. From the industry view, they save money hiring someone with a two year degree as opposed to off the street."

It's not news that the utility industry has gone through a major restructuring in the last 10 years. Markets have become more competitive and all companies need to run more efficiently as a result. Workers have to be kept up to speed. And, utilities need to prepare for the newest technological innovations and the effect such progress will have on them.

Corporate leaders must weigh financial, regulatory and environmental concerns when deciding how to staff up. Clearly, investments in ideas and people do reap returns not just for the businesses devoting the capital but for the rest of society as well. "Those utilities that have a coherent strategic direction and recognize that they are critical to the infrastructure of our society will hire for sustainability," says Abigail Dowling, a search consultant for Electric Power Source in Pittsburgh, in a prior talk with IssueAlert.

Along those lines, the spectrum is divided into two clear parts: those companies that hire as part of a well thought-out business plan and those that recruit as a response to some current event, or crisis. Hiring reflects the industry's internal state, says Dowling. If such internalities are coherent and organized, then the hiring will be the same. Similarly, if companies are in disarray, their recruiting will also be disorganized. In the case of the utility sector, generally, she says that current hiring patterns are not strategic.

"If hiring is done to support a coherent strategy, then the expense becomes a small issue," she says.

The idea is to combine new efficiencies with greater productivity. And while people are part of the corporate asset base, they sometimes do not feel as if they are. The more companies devote resources to people, the more those workers invest in their futures. And the more that happens, the larger returns companies will see on their investments. With a good portion of the current utility workforce close to retirement and with utility balance sheets improving, it's a good time to re-think corporate hiring strategies.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit:  http://www.energycentral.com .

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