14 DAY TRIAL // Representatives from the US Department of Energy (DOE) announce that they have just awarded a $2.5 million grant to the College of Technology, at the University of Houston. The money will be used to create a new type of training program, which will seek to train a small, highly-specialized unit of technicians in how to handle smart grind. The DOE refers to these people as the next generation of workers that will power the electricity industry. The program will be especially relevant given the fact that renewable energy-ran power plants pose new challenges for the existing grids.
“This grant is a tremendous achievement for UH and the coalition, which is dedicated to developing a regional and national skill center that will be the focus of hands-on training for electric power sector employees. The Houston region is engaged in significant build-outs of smart meter and intelligent grid systems that require attention to workforce training issues,” says UH College of Technology research professor Raymond E. Cline Jr., who is also the manager of the new project.
In addition to the University of Houston, the Smart Grid Energy Training Coalition also includes the San Jacinto Collefe, SkillsNET, the Texas Business and Education Coalition, the Power Technology Institute, and CenterPoint Energy. The work experts here will need to conduct revolves around developing training programs that will be able to replace those highly-skilled employees lost for various reasons. In addition, the same programs will augment the skills current employees have and will help boost the skills of newly-hired individuals significantly.
The main jobs that are targeted by the training initiatives include those of support electrician, line worker, technician, system operators, power system engineers, cyber security specialist and transmission planner. The UH Energy Research Center will in the near future include a “Power Training Campus,” where most of the work associated with the new programs will be conducted.
“We are very pleased the coalition has received this DOE award for smart grid workforce training program development. These funds will help provide training programs that are a part of our efforts to deliver more quickly the benefits of smart meters and the intelligent grid to Houston-area electric consumers,” says the senior vice president of smart grid deployment at CenterPoint Energy, Kenny Mercado.
“The coalition will integrate secondary STEM/CTE courses, post secondary Skill Certificates, industry job requirements, and regional labor market demand into a seamless talent pipeline management system designed to prepare students and workers for future career opportunities. The coalition is determined to design the gold standard for this important process,” says the Founder and CEO of SkillsNET, Michael Brown.