Utility Workforce Planning Network is Launched

Responding to the growing concern that utilities will face a severe shortage of skilled technical workers in the very near future, UBEC has joined with the electric and natural gas industry to create the Utility Workforce Planning Network. The Network was created to engage the industry broadly in strategic, unified and results-oriented efforts to ensure a skilled workforce to meet future industry needs.

The Network was launched October 19, 2004 in Atlanta at an organizational meeting co-sponsored by Southern Company and UBEC. More than 50 key industry representatives agreed that a nationwide effort was necessary to avert a potential staffing crisis that threatens industry operations by the end of the decade. More...

Centers of Excellence Initiative Announced

A key element of the Utility Workforce Planning Network's plan to address the electric and natural gas industry's skilled technical worker shortage is developing effective partnerships between utility companies and local educational institutions, other employers and economic and workforce development organizations.

The Centers of Excellence model is designed to create sustainable education and training programs to meet local workforce needs. These local programs will become part of a national network that will enable replication of effective models, sharing of lessons learned and best practices, and transferability of skill credentials. More...