PSERC

Aging Workforce: Maintaining the Engineering Expertise Needed to

Keep the Grid Reliable

Dennis Ray, Ph.D.Executive Director

Power Systems Engineering Research Center

NERC Long-Term Reliability Assessment WorkshopAugust 16, 2007

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Background

• Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC - http://www.pserc.org)• Mission: “Empowering minds to engineer the

future electric energy system”• 13 university consortium collaborating with

industry (about 35 members) conducting research in power markets, power systems and T&D technologies

• Research: 40 researchers, 60 graduate students, 20 projects

• Students: 450 undergraduates, 140 masters, 120 doctorate

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Background

• IEEE Power Engineering Society (PES – http://www.ieee.org/power/)• Worldwide, non-profit association of more

than 23,000 professionals engaged in electric power engineering

• Provides world’s largest forum for sharing the technological developmentsfor developing standardsfor educating industry members and the public

• Formed Workforce Team to address aging workforce issues

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The Aging Power Industry Workforce

Nu

mb

er

of

Em

plo

ye

es

Employee Age Group

Now 5 years out 10 years out

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 65+

Source: Ray, Dennis and Bill Snyder. "Strategies to Address the Problem of Exiting Expertise in the Electric Power Industry." Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. January 2006.

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The reliability of the North American electric utility grid is dependent on the accumulated experience and technical expertise of those who design and operate the system. As the rapidly aging workforce leaves the industry over the next five to ten years, the challenge to the electric utility industry will be to fill this void…

2006 Long-Term Reliability AssessmentNERC

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Response Strategies

• Expanding the “pipeline” of new hires• Recruiting and retention• Improving image of power careers• Workforce planning and job design• System automation• Knowledge retention• Rehiring retirees• Outsourcing• Public policy barriers

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Our industry is coming to the realization that recruiting and retaining the best people is top priority.

Wanda Reder, President-Elect, IEEE PES, VP, S&C Electric, in “Meeting the Twin Challenges of Education and an Aging Workforce in the Electric Power Industry.” The CIP Report. Nov. 2006.

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Expanding the Educational Pipeline

• Students: Encourage interest in power-related careers and overcome access barriers

• Infrastructure: Build a sustainable educational infrastructure to educate students to meet the requirements of power-related careers

• Analysis: Engage in collaborative thinking about the most productive and cost-efficient ways to build the education pipeline.

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Students• Undergraduate student interest in engineering not

growing as fast as total number of undergraduates• Diversity in engineering remains an issue (reference

U.S. population figures in 2004: 38.3% people of color, 48.5% female)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1995 2000 2004

Engineering atUniversities

Engr Studentsof Color

Females inEngineering

Source: Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation, 2007

Percent

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• Undergraduate enrollments in elective power classes declined from about 3,500 to 3,300.

• Masters: down from 1,600 to 1,400• Doctorate: rose from 800 to 900.• International students are now about 59% of

all graduate students.• Growing interest in “energy systems”

Power Engineering Student Trends2005/6 vs. 2001/2 Academic Year

Source: IEEE Power Engineering Education Committee Survey Results for 2005-06 Academic Year.

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Declining EE Undergraduate Enrollments (Univ. of Wisc.)

515 522563 570

634587

361 377 376350

300262

213215 194

196

168

149

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

CmpE

EE

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DOE Recommendations

• Foster math and science education• Build interest in energy-related careers• Notes:

• Wide-ranging state and national programs are addressing those objectives.

• Links to power careers are likely improvable.

• Where would it be most helpful for the electric power industry to get more involved?

Workforce Trends in the Electric Utility Industry, U.S. DOE, August 2006.

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Middle School Education Materials

Lesson materials and Web applets from TCIP Project (http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/projects/tcip/)

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Power Engineering Image

• When you think of power engineering, what comes to mind?• Exciting (58%)• Critical to society (55%)• Lots of opportunities (51%)• Future minded (43%)• Relevant (40%)• Boring (2%)

• What image is the electric power industry communicating today? Should it change?

Source: IEEE PES International Survey of Power Engineering Students (June 2007)

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Career-Choice Decision Factors

• What made you decide on your career path?• Interesting career (67%)• Opportunity to help solve significant societal

challenges (38%)• Make the world a better place to live (33%)• Good pay opportunities (30%)• High likelihood of getting a job (20%)

• What can be done to make recruiting and retention efforts more effective?

Source: IEEE PES International Survey of Power Engineering Students (June 2007)

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Influential People in Career Choices

• Who influenced your career choice?• Guidance counselor/mentor/teacher (26%)• Talking with people in the industry (22%)• Parent’s suggestions (12%)• Friend’s suggestions (6%)• Media (2%)

• How we better target our recruiting efforts on the key influencers of career choices?

Source: IEEE PES International Survey of Power Engineering Students (June 2007)

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PES-Careers

• IEEE PES’ upcoming on-line job opportunities service uniquely designed for power engineering students (http://PES-Careers.org)• As a service to U.S. and Canadian students and their

future employers • To help address emerging engineering workforce

challenges • To facilitate collaboration among industry, government

and academia to provide a quality education for the next generation of power engineers.

• Anticipated to go-live in late August• Developed with PSERC’s assistance

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Education System Infrastructure• Institutions

• Universities• Engineering Technology Schools (community

colleges, etc.)• Other providers (consultants, etc.)

• Outcomes• Degrees (associate, bachelors, etc.)• Professional Development (CEU’s, etc.)

• Venue (in-residence, on-site, distance education, etc.)

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Educational Infrastructure

• What needs are best met by each education model?

• What changes in the education system should be made to better prepare the workforce?

• What types of industry-government-education partnerships are needed to build and sustain the infrastructure?

• What are best practices today? What types are working well in other industries?

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Without strong support for strategic research in power systems engineering and without qualified replacements for retiring faculty, the strength of our Nation’s university-based power engineering programs will wane, and along with them, the foundation for innovation in the power sector to meet our energy challenges in the 21st century.

Workforce Trends in the Electric Utility Industry, U.S. DOE, August 2006.

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• New (untenured) faculty declined from 21% in early 90s to 14% of total faculty.

• Senior faculty rose from 50% to 63%.• Approximately 3 faculty members are hired for

every 4 that leave.• Reported total research funding per institution

declined about 18%.• Industry-funded research rose compared to

2001-02, but did not off-set declines in government-funded research.

Power Engineering Program Trends

Source: IEEE Power Engineering Education Committee Survey Results for Various Academic Years.

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University Power Systems Programs

• Of 48 programs reporting in both 1987/8 and 2005/6, 50% declined and 15% grew in number of major faculty members.

Source: IEEE Power Engineering Education Committee Survey Results for Various Academic Years.

Power Faculty at Ohio State

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Academic Year

Nu

mb

er o

f F

acu

lty

Power Engineering Faculty

Carnegie Mellon University:1975: 8 faculty; 2007: 1

Cornell University:1975: 7 faculty; 2007: 1

University of Michigan:1971: 5 faculty; 2007: 0

UC Berkeley:1971: 4 faculty; 2007: 1

Univ. of Missouri-Columbia:1975: 8 faculty; 2007: 0

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Without a sizable research portfolio, it is not possible for a disciplinary area such as electric power to get new faculty positions or resources.

Professor Vijay Vittal, Director, Power Systems Engineering Research Center in filed comments to FERC in RM06-16, July 2006.

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University administrations need to know there is a long term commitment to university research in the area. The students need to know there are high paying, interesting jobs.

Professor Robert J. Thomas, Cornell University, in “Meeting the Twin Challenges of Education and an Aging Workforce in the Electric Power Industry.” The CIP Report. Nov. 2006

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Funding Research

• What barriers need to be overcome to increase support from industry and government?

• Can funding from such initiatives as the America Competes Act be leveraged?

• Could industry advocate for increased university research support from Congress, DOE, NSF, etc.?

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Analysis

• Need to increase understanding of aging workforce challenges, and to facilitate discussions to find effective, collaborative responses to those challenges

• Responses need to address how to increase the number well-trained students, and how to build and sustain the infrastructure necessary to educate them

• Questions posed earlier, among others, should be addressed.

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NSF Workshop on Sustaining Power Engineering Programs

• Objectives of this invited attendance workshop for industry, government and academia:• To assess the gap between the need for new

engineers and the ability of universities to meet that need

• To understand what it takes to sustain university programs and explore options for doing so

• To facilitate an executive summit on the second day to discuss education infrastructure needs and options

• To develop an action plan for addressing key issues

• Nov. 29-30, 2007 in Arlington, VA• Collaborative effort of IEEE PES and PSERC

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Conclusions

• Decisions on investments in people should receive as high a priority in maintaining reliability as decisions on investments in the aging physical infrastructure.

• Collaboration among industry, government, and universities is needed to respond to the aging workforce challenges.

• Research support for universities is fundamental to educating the next generation of power engineers.