Many electric cooperatives trying to recruit skilled workers, particularly in rural areas, are finding it tough to solve workforce challenges alone. But a little-known resource has been helping some of them make meaningful progress.

Through state energy workforce consortia, co-ops are collaborating with other utilities, contractors, educators, workforce agencies, industry partners and community leaders to define hiring needs and develop short- and long-term solutions.

There are about 20 active groups, ranging from the oldest in Georgia to one of the newest in Texas. The Center for Energy Workforce Development supports them by sharing career toolkits, curricula and lessons plans for teachers, awareness campaigns and strategies—and offers some of these resources at no cost even for non-members.

CEWD Director of Workforce Development Sara Vander Zanden said the consortia began in 2007 at several members' request.

“They said, 'We cannot solve these workforce challenges on our own' and asked whether they could deploy our national solutions on the ground and across the sector," said Vander Zanden.

The need for collaboration is growing. According to NRECA data, 6.5% of cooperative employees are currently eligible to retire, down slightly from 6.9% in 2020. But over the next five years, the retirement-eligible workforce is projected to grow to 16.6%, meaning about one in every six cooperative employees could leave the workforce.

“Developing a strong, sustainable talent pipeline is not a future issue," said Desiree Dunham, workforce programs manager at NRECA. "It's a current priority that requires collaboration. Through state consortia, co-ops can partner with other organizations to attract, develop and connect talent to industry career opportunities and pathways."

Each state consortium operates differently, but they all have several things in common, Vander Zanden said. Energy employers lead each group and recruit cross-sector partners to meet specific regional needs, including reducing duplication of efforts; establishing a unified voice for training providers, state agencies and policymakers; raising career awareness among students and job seekers; and influencing training curricula in schools.

“While each organization serves its own communities, we've come to recognize that addressing today's workforce and industry challenges requires all of us working together."

North Carolina and South Carolina consortium participants focus heavily on career awareness and recruitment. Recently, they engaged legislators in both states to approve careers in energy proclamations and participated in SkillsUSA, a national workforce development organization whose chapters represent nearly 450,000 students and career and technical education instructors.

“Industry partners and educators working hand in hand to help each other is an important piece of the consortia," Liles said. “By partnering with educational institutions and contributing to curriculum development, industry leaders can help ensure students are gaining the skills and knowledge needed for successful careers. Together, we can build a workforce that is ready to meet the needs of the future."

Founded in 2007, the Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium is the nation's oldest. Its accomplishments include working with education officials to become one of the first states to adopt an “energy career cluster" to guide schools and colleges on developing programs. It also led the creation of “energy pathway" tracks in the Paulding County School District and the Cobb Innovation and Technology Academy and continues to help school systems elsewhere in the state develop similar programs.

Greystone Power Corp.'s Rita Wilson joined the consortium in 2014 and until recently served as its chair.

As an independent nonprofit, the Georgia consortium can apply for grants to help fund scholarships and career awareness programs. Since 2020, it's awarded about $250,000 in scholarships to about 160 students.

“The designation has opened a lot of doors for us and being able to speak with a unified voice that says we now have a national career cluster has been so helpful for us as cooperatives," said Lauren Gandy, an organizational development manager at Associated Electric Cooperative, a generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Springfield—and consortia co-chair with Ameren Corp.'s Monique Williams-Moore.

Vander Zanden said the state workforce consortia have often flown under utilities' radar. CEWD promotes the consortia at their conferences—its annual summit is in November—and NRECA has promoted them at Interact conferences. But most publicity comes via participant word-of-mouth.

“They're really a great way to stay abreast of everything happening around workforce development strategy and energy," she said.

For more information on state workforce consortia, contact NRECA's Desiree Dunham.