by Jbs042310 i3 — April 24, 2010—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will award nearly $100 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 54 Smart Grid workforce training programs that will help prepare the next generation of workers in the electric utility and electrical equipment manufacturing industries, according to news from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Located in 32 states and the District of Columbia, the 54 training programs will leverage more than $95 million in funding from community colleges, universities, utilities, and manufacturers. The programs will train approximately 30,000 U.S. workers in Smart Grid technologies. The funding builds on the more than $4 billion in Recovery Act funding already committed to Smart Grid deployment and demonstration projects throughout the country.
The programs will focus on training activities that support electricians, line workers, technicians, system operators, power system engineers, cyber security specialists, and transmission planners. The award selections include 33 projects at educational institutions and 21 training projects at electrical equipment manufacturers and electric utilities.
The selections include broad efforts to develop and deploy new training programs and curricula at a variety of educational institutions, as well as workforce programs conducted by electrical equipment manufacturers and electric utilities to train new hires and retrain current employees.
