Preparing energy technicians is a growth opportunity for community colleges that does not necessarily require top-to-bottom new programs.

 

Instead of creating distinct new programs for each energy field, participants at the National Energy Technician Education Summit last week recommended that community colleges add specific skills required by renewable and alternative energy sectors to existing curricula.  

 

"Give me a technician that's got a good, solid fundamental understanding of electrical theory, power generation, safety and some work experience. I can take that resource and teach them the specifics of the GE technology that they need," said Daniel Lance, global training leader for GE Energy Renewables. 

 

To help the nation meet its energy needs, summit participants suggested that community colleges work collaboratively with other education sectors and local industry partners to enhance technical skills and add “soft skills” to existing technician education programs. The technical aptitudes mentioned most often were math, science, data analysis, and mechanical and information technology skills. The soft skills that employers at the summit said they seek in technicians include the ability to speak and write clearly, solve problems, work on a team, think critically, and behave as socially responsible adults.

 

Attendees of the summit agreed that technicians with strong core technical skills who also have good communication skills, a reliable work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit will find work in traditional energy sectors as well as in solar, wind and other emerging energy fields.

 

The American Association of Community Colleges and the Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center (ATEEC)— located at Scott Community College (Iowa)—convened last week’s summit in Washington, D.C., with support from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The summit followed up on seven regional conversations ATEEC held in 2009 to identify existing and upcoming energy technician jobs.

 

ATE, the largest community college program in the NSF's portfolio, focuses on innovative technician education programs in advanced technology fields critical to the nation's security. Since the program began in 1992, it has cultivated partnerships between industry and community colleges to develop the nation's high-tech workforce.

 

In recent years it has held similar meetings with AACC to shape the direction of biotechnician education, cybersecurity technician education, and science and math teacher preparation programs at community colleges.

 

 

Educators are listening closely to businesses’ needs and encouraging industry to see themselves as partners in education.

 

"We want to listen, as educators, to what it is that you have to say so we can ensure that we are proactively and effectively putting together programs to make sure that our technicians meet the needs of the new energy economy," Ellen Kabat Lensch, executive director of ATEEC—a national center of excellence within the NSF's ATE program— told business and industry representatives, who comprised most of the summit's 90 participants.  

 

The recommendations to guide community colleges' energy technician programs were developed during facilitated discussions. In both small and large groups, industry and business people worked with community college educators, university educators, and representatives of federal and state agencies and non-profit organizations.

 

By the third day of the summit, there was consensus that energy efficiency should be a key focus of energy technician education programs because efficiency measures can be taught across disciplines, make economic sense to consumers, and do not have to wait for enactment of a national energy policy.

 

With 4.9 million commercial buildings in North America, there is high demand for technicians who know how to operate the buildings' energy systems efficiently, members of one panel discussion observed.  

 

"You can't have a high-performance building without a high-performance operator," said Paul Ehrlich, president of the Building Intelligence Group.

 

Participants also noted that New York City and other municipalities require building owners to reduce their energy usage.

 

"We need whole-building thinkers," said Kimberlie Lenihan, project manager with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist, but you need to be able to understand whole-building systems and the effects of what's going on around you.”

 

 

There’s also an economic angle to new energy.

 

"A new energy economy would be a secure economy," said Max Wei, a senior research associate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has studied the employment patterns related to sustained investment in energy efficiency and low-carbon energy sources.

 

During his keynote at the summit, Wei noted that Americans' desire to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil and to improve the environment will likely drive innovation and employment in alternative energy. He expects careers that involve energy efficiency and renewable energy sources to remain strong for technicians who complete community college certificate and degree programs.

 

Growth in the energy workforce will depend on how much the nation invests in efforts to limit climate change and the rate at which incumbent technicians retire, Wei said. He anticipates the U.S. workforce growth generated by new energy sources will concentrate in specific geographic regions, such as the Central Plains for wind, the Southwest for solar and the Southeast and North Central states for biomass.

 

Similar workforce trends emerged during the seven regional energy conversations ATEEC held last year.

 

A summary of the summit will be posted this week at http://www.ateec.org and http://www.aacc.nche.edu. ATEEC will publish a full report in the spring.