National Grid takes action to address impending shortage of utility engineers

RP news wires
Tags: talent management

According to a recent report by the U.S. Power and Energy Engineering Workforce Collaborative, about 45 percent of the engineers currently employed by the Nation’s electric and natural gas utilities will be eligible for retirement over the next five years, creating a need for more than 7,000 engineers industry wide. At the same time, there is a significant decline in the number of students who are choosing to study engineering and related disciplines. As a result, the nation’s utilities are facing what could become a crisis situation unless this trend is reversed.

Enter National Grid. Like other utilities across the country, National Grid is facing a looming shortage of engineers to build the next generation of its energy delivery system, including smart grids and other emerging high-tech systems.

National Grid is taking action to address this challenge with its innovative and comprehensive “Engineering Our Future” initiative to inspire youth and attract and develop engineers. National Grid already has invested more than $3 million in this program to target students of all ages and backgrounds to encourage them to study science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as “STEM.”

“We depend on engineers to design and build our systems to deliver energy to our customers safely and reliably,” National Grid President Tom King said. “We must act now to create a corps of smart, dedicated and highly trained engineers to develop innovative technologies and renewable energy solutions to meet the ever changing needs of our customers.”

The centerpiece of “Engineering Our Future” is a new program called the “Engineering Pipeline.” The Pipeline is a six-year development program that creates a recruitment pathway for promising high school students who want to become engineers. About 60 students from across National Grid’s service area in New York and New England may participate in the Pipeline program each summer for development programs, job shadow and mentoring opportunities and social networking activities. Students will have an opportunity to apply for 15 paid internships during the third, fourth and fifth year of the Pipeline program.

Pipeline program applicants must have completed their junior year of high school, have a 3.5 cumulative GPA, provide evaluations from two teachers and submit a 250-word essay illustrating their desire to learn about engineering. Once accepted into the program, students must maintain a 3.5 GPA, pursue an engineering degree and participate in ongoing Pipeline program activities in order to be considered for fast-track employment with National Grid. The company plans to launch the Pipeline program this summer.

At the same time that demand for engineering is going up, engineering is becoming a less popular career choice. According to the American Society for Engineering Education, engineering bachelor’s degrees declined in 2007 for the first time since the 1990s, ending seven years of growth. The trend is predicted to continue for several years, as undergraduate enrollment dropped in both 2004 and 2005.

“We need to make sure that all students have the option to choose engineering as a career path, and that means being properly prepared in elementary, middle and high school,” King added.

National Grid already has made significant investments in many community-based projects, funding research centers to support new and exciting technologies and partnering with organizations that provide programs to educate teachers as well as students in the STEM curriculum. The following are just a few examples of these programs:

Elementary through high school

Colleges and universities
National Grid is actively working with a number of colleges and universities around its service area to invest in engineers and support the company’s development and recruitment efforts. Examples include:

For additional information, go to National Grid’s Web site at www.nationalgridus.com

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.