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| 7/28/2010 10:58:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | SCC develops new program to fill growing energy worker needs
Bill Hafer
Reporter
With focuses in nuclear, fossil fuels, biofuels and wind technology, Southeast Community College's new energy generation operations program will provide operators for various energy-generating facilities as the need for those workers increases in coming years.
"The aging work force is a real and growing problem for many economic sectors as the baby boomers retire in large numbers. The utility sector is particularly sensitive to these looming manpower issues since they are such a critical part of the nation's infrastructure," said John Pierce, energy generation operations program chair.
He said the program will be an 18-month associate of applied science degree program and will include four focus areas, biofuels, fossil fuels, nuclear and wind.
"It appears to be the only program of its kind in the country with all types of energy being addressed," Pierce said.
The program will be offered out of the Milford campus and will be the first SCC degree program designed from the ground up to include online coursework. The program is scheduled to start its first class in January with a maximum of 25 students. Pierce said 10 students are already signed up with a couple more applications being processed.
He said the plan is to start two groups of students per year, one in January and one in July, depending on student demand.
Development of the new program began about two years ago when Cooper Nuclear Station officials came to SCC to see about setting up a training program for nuclear station operators to fill a growing need, Pierce said.
He said Cooper came to SCC because the station has hired people from other programs.
But the position of operator for a nuclear station is different from the more specialized programs SCC normally provides as it requires a broader range of knowledge to cover a number of areas, but not the depth of the specialists at a station.
Pierce said after looking at what SCC already offers he decided this needed to be a new program and development began.
At the same time, he said the Nebraska Ethanol Board had identified the need to start training more operators for ethanol plants.
"In looking at that area and what their operators need, we saw it is the same stuff," Pierce said.
He said in addition, the rising popularity of renewable energy such as wind and geothermal led to the college joining the American Wind Energy Association.
At a curriculum development conference, Pierce said, in discussion with other educators and trainers he found that many of the skills needed were the same as those sought for nuclear and ethanol plant operators.
Pierce said in researching how to create the new program he looked at all the other colleges in the country that offer energy training and noticed that wind turbine technology was the most popular.
SCC is a good place for a wind energy program because studies of wind energy potential have found that the best wind region in the U.S. is between South Dakota and the panhandle of Texas, he said.
Pierce said Nebraska is set to see its share of wind development with a new law passed by the Legislature this year, LB1048, aimed at clearing some of the barriers to wind energy development in the state.
The law went into effect July 15 and just hours later Chicago-based Invenergy, the nation's largest private wind developer, filed an application to build a $448 million wind farm in northeast Nebraska.
Pierce said the problem with wind power in Nebraska has always been that the state has the power it needs. The new bill was created to allow wind farms to be developed in the state with the understanding that the vast majority of the power generated, 90 percent, would be exported.
The law also places all costs associated with developing wind energy on the private developers, including installing new transmission lines where needed, he said.
Pierce said this opens up a new source of revenue for the state, creates jobs and a new source of income for people who own land where a windfarm is being developed.
With the new sources of energy becoming more viable and old sources like nuclear and coal continuing to be important, there are plenty of jobs for students coming out of the new SCC program.
"As a result of our comprehensive review of those needs we have designed this program to be flexible so that we can add instruction on developing types of renewable energy in the future. For the time being, traditional types of energy generation, electrical and liquid fuels, will continue to be used and will continue to require operators who are trained to understand and operate these facilities," Pierce said.
The energy generation operations program is being developed with input from Cooper Nuclear Station, Nebraska Public Power District and Lincoln Electric System.
"SCC's energy generation operations program will support Nebraska's public power system by educating local talent, which ultimately helps keep this talent in the state," said Rod Penfield, Cooper Nuclear Station operations manager for NPPD. "The program will also benefit utilities by offering potential candidates an educational background developed based on utility needs, recommendations, expectations and requirements."
Pierce said the program has been certified by the Nuclear Energy Institute and the American Wind Energy Association, so graduates will be able to work at any plant in the country.
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