Obama Administration Announces Nearly $100 Million for
Smart Grid Workforce Training and Development
Apr 09, 2010 -- Energy Department Documents and Publications/ContentWorks
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that the Department
of Energy is announcing award selections for nearly $100 million for 54
smart grid workforce training programs that will help prepare the next
generation of workers in the utility and electrical manufacturing
industries. These projects will leverage more than $95 million in
funding from community colleges, universities, utilities and
manufacturers to develop and implement training programs. The selectees
estimate that the programs will train approximately 30,000 Americans.
These workers will help to modernize the nation's electrical grid and
implement smart grid technologies in communities across the country.
Secretary Chu made the announcement while visiting a Pepco engineering
and service center in Rockville, Maryland that is receiving $4.4 million
in funding that the company estimates will train 700 new and existing
employees. This funding is the latest investment by the Obama
Administration to develop the smart grid and builds on the more than $4
billion in Recovery Act funding for smart grid deployment and
demonstration projects nationally.
"Building and operating smart grid infrastructure will put tens of
thousands of Americans to work," said Secretary Chu. "Today's investment
will help ensure that we have the workforce in place to meet this need.
This is a great opportunity for workers to upgrade their skills and earn
more, or for laid off workers from other industries to start fresh in a
new and growing field."
The programs will focus on training activities that support
electricians, line workers, technicians, system operators, power system
engineers, cyber security specialists and transmission planners. The
selections include support to develop and deploy training programs
broadly as well as to conduct actual personnel training for current and
future employees. Workers will receive training on the transmission and
distribution systems as well as new intelligent grid systems, such as
smart meters, phasor measurement sensors and advanced communication
networks.
Today's award selections support two types of workforce training
initiatives:
* Developing and Enhancing Workforce Training Programs for the Electric
Power Sector (Topic A)--33 projects have been selected to receive $41.6
million in Recovery Act funds for the development of new training
programs, strategies and curricula related to the electric power sector
and the smart grid. These new programs include projects at universities,
community colleges and technical schools that will help serve as models
for training or retraining workers across the country. The awards also
include support for the Strategic Training and Education in Power
Systems (STEPS) initiative, which will develop cross-disciplinary
electric power system programs at the university and college level.
* Smart Grid Workforce Training (Topic B) --21 projects have been
selected to receive $57.7 million in Recovery Act funds to conduct
workforce training programs for new hires--including displaced workers
and military veterans--and retraining programs for electric utility
workers and electrical equipment manufacturers to further enhance their
knowledge of smart grid technologies and their implementation. These
projects will help ensure utilities and manufacturers have the necessary
trained workforce to support the ongoing smart grid deployment projects,
including Smart Grid Investment Grants and Demonstration Projects funded
under the Recovery Act.
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