Nov 01 - Cincinnati Post

Raymond Miller doesn't want to flip a light switch one night and find out he's in the dark because there weren't enough workers to keep the country's power industry going.

"I think there's a good chance there will be a serious problem if the industry can't find enough people quickly enough to fill jobs that are already coming open," said Miller, the University of Cincinnati's superintendent of utilities and a former manager in the commercial power industry.

Figures vary among companies, but industry officials estimate that about half of the approximately 400,000 employees in the work force will be eligible for retirement over the next five to 10 years.

These include workers who operate power plant equipment and repair the lines carrying electricity to homes and businesses.

The first of the baby boomers reach 60 this year.

Worried about the potential exodus and having enough trained replacements, utilities are asking more career and technical schools and colleges to offer courses in power plant operations.

The companies also are offering grants and scholarships and helping develop curriculums that include algebra and calculus as well as courses on environmental regulations, combustion engines and electrical circuits.

A handful of schools have offered power industry training programs previously, but in the past two to four years utilities have started aggressively seeking out colleges to create more.

The retirement of veteran workers is a particular problem in the power industry.

Utilities hired fewer people over the past 10 to 20 years as the companies trimmed costs to achieve profitability amid deregulation.

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