Summary of Comments of Jack Casazza
Future Shortages of Electric Power Industry Workers

Shortages of competent personnel exist in the electric power industry and will grow in the future. These shortages exist at all levels from hourly skilled workers to executives and in all organizations from the government, to the electric power industry, to our universities. The causes of these shortages have been:

1) Industry restructuring, focused on earning immediate profits and not long-term needs.
2) Early retirement programs to transfer payments for personnel from the company's balance sheet to the pension fund.
3) The halting of the manufacturing of much electric power equipment by industry in the United States, and sales of businesses to foreign companies to improve short term profits.
4) Perceptions by young people that there is more challenging work in other industries.
5) Inability of technical personnel to advance into senior management ranks in the power industry.

As a result, the role of power engineers has decreased. University educational programs ceased. Knowledgeable university faculty retired and were not replaced. The focus of university faculty became generation of funds through research, not teaching Particularly important was the general abandonment of engineering economics courses.

In government, the politicization of appointments to policy positions increased. The National Academy of Engineering Analysis of technical and scientific appointments has reported that most do not have the required experience and have not been made in a timely manner.

The unions are deeply concerned. Hourly worker employment dropped 26% from 1990 to 2005. The average age of power lineman is now 50 years. Over the past years some utilities have abandoned their in-house training programs, and are beginning to require employees pay for the training they need.

Solutions to this problem will come from joint industry, union, professional society, and government organizations communicating and cooperating. The National Energy Act passed last year provided $20 million for each of the fiscal years 2006 and 2007, covering educational programs and educational partnerships in the energy industry. These funds should be used wisely.

New standards for required qualifications at all skill levels, including hourly workers, professional workers, and government technical employees. The existing state procedures for licensing and registration for engineers and others should be reviewed and revised.

Lastly, and most importantly, the power industry must support through better salaries, funding of various educational programs, and cooperative programs involving students and professors, the educational needs of the future.



If these steps are taken we will be on the path to solving the problem.