Line workers and the future of electricity

Electical utilities across the U.S. are projecting a shortage of as many as 10,000 line workers, as older workers retire and there aren't enough younger workers to replace them. It's tough, physical, outdoor work that doesn't seem to appeal to a lot of younger workers. A Black and Veatch survey of electric companies found that investor-owned utilities rate the aging workforce as their third highest concern, after service reliability and infrastructure. A recent Reuters story reports that workforce levels peaked in 1990 at 500,000 workers nationally, but has fallen by 23% since then. In that same time period, demand for electricity has risen dramatically.

The Reuters story quotes Jim Hunter, utility director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as saying there are currently 43,000 apprentice or journey-level line line workers. At the same time, some 400,000 technical and office workers will be eligible for retirement within five years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Stats, line installers and repairers earn median hourly wages of between $16 and $25 an hour, and a college degree isn't required. However, they also report that overall employment is expected to grow more slowly than average for all occupations through 2014. BLS counted 251,000 lineworkers in 2004. Most people learn to be linemen through apprenticeship programs run either by unions like the IBEW or by the utilities themselves.

What with growing interest in the jobs that could be created by new investments in alternative energy production, this shortage in electrical utility workers might open an opportunity to change the structure of the industry through a workforce development lens. If the line worker's job as it's defined now doesn't appeal to young workers, perhaps a new emphasis on a broader set of skills tied to cutting-edge alternative energy production would be more inviting to them.