Troops to Energy Jobs

 

LEGAL JARGON includes the phrase "prima facie case," a proposition that argues for itself on first sight. Troops to Energy Jobs - a concerted effort by the utility industry to connect American military veterans with energy jobs - fits the definition.

Look at the numbers: A recently tallied jobless rate for veterans comes in at a distressing 30 percent; unemployment benefits to newly discharged service members climbed from $450 million in 2008 to $882 million in 2010.

That describes a situation that goes well beyond unacceptable. It is a national disgrace.

We must do better by these Americans, who volunteered to defend us at profound risk and personal sacrifice. Troops to Energy Jobs offers the potential for making a significant difference while addressing a growing and pressing challenge faced by the utility sector.

The nature of that challenge was outlined in a 2009 study by the Center for Energy Workforce Development, which anticipates that the gas and electric utilities could lose almost 200,000 workers from 2009 to 2014. Some of that loss will occur through attrition, some through retirement. In either case, the potential retirements and attrition present a daunting situation, as they could represent more than one-third of our total workforce.

As threatening as the general numbers may look, the specifics - the breakdown by occupation - are even more unsettling. In that same five-year period, from 2009 to 2014, gas and electric utilities could lose 28,000 of 69,000 line workers (41 percent); 21,000 of 43,000 power station and field operators (49 percent); and 15,000 of 34,000 engineers (44 percent).

That represents a staggering potential loss of institutional knowledge and technical skill. In response, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Gas Association, and the Nuclear Energy Institute, along with unions and contractors, formed a nonprofit consortium of gas and electric utilities and created the center five years ago. The mission is straightforward: "Build the alliances, processes and tools to develop tomorrow's energy workforce."

At present, we have managed to keep the workforce supply steady, but the prospect of an applicant pool of highly experienced people used to operating and exercising authority under great pressure offers an opportunity too rich to ignore.

That applicant pool - namely, the men and women who have served in America's armed services - are risk-aware, safety-conscious and highly disciplined. It takes little insight to appreciate that the military culture and the utility culture are naturally compatible.

And, with 190,000 to 200,000 active-duty personnel separating from the military annually over the next quarter-century, the proposition makes its case on the face of it.

A pilot program, undertaken in March by five major utility companies - Dominion, Arizona Public Service, American Electric Power, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern Company - has provided us with some real-world understanding and helped us to lay out a road map for military personnel to make the transition from uniformed service into energy careers.

Our industry will collaborate with the U.S. armed services, identifying what training and skills those leaving the military already have, and what we will have to add on. The key is that the Troops to Energy Jobs effort will be focused and accelerated, tailored to moving these valuable people from harm's way to the way we power America.

In effect, the Troops to Energy Jobs initiative will function much like a bridge, so that we efficiently develop career pathways and make use of the extensive training already acquired by veterans.

Dominion, for example, employs about 1,200 veterans across 14 states. Our eyes are wide open. We know the quality of people we will be getting and why this effort makes such good sense - not only for veterans, but also for the cause of keeping the lights on.