Last week, DTE cut the figurative Grand Opening ribbon on a 77-turbine wind park that spans Saginaw and Midland Counties. The park will generate 225 megawatts of clean energy. According to DTE, the park will generate 12-15 jobs for wind turbine technicians.
What’s more exciting is the fact that DTE plans to add enough capacity to generate 1,000 megawatts of clean energy per year for the next two decades. At that rate, DTE could generate enough clean energy to power 4 million Michigan homes. If DTE follows through on its goal of adding 1,000 megawatts of clean energy per year, that could result in 40-50 new technician jobs annually for twenty years.
DTE won’t be the only company creating clean energy jobs. Power providers like Consumer’s Energy will also create dozens of clean energy jobs as they transition from coal and natural gas plants to clean energy. Additionally, private industry (i.e., the manufacturing sector) will also create demand for some number of energy technicians to work in their power houses.
Community colleges are the ideal place to train utility workers, and there will be significant demand for trained technicians. Granted, it takes money to create these programs. Fortunately, the federal government has made tens of millions of dollars available to community colleges to create these programs.
The stakes are high for Michigan, especially if we want to keep and improve our manufacturing base. Manufacturing requires a lot of energy, so manufacturing centers – like Southeast Michigan – will need to invest heavily in clean energy and its related infrastructure. That includes having enough trained technicians available to support alternative energy production.
Wind turbine technicians will be in high demand
There is no reason Washtenaw Community College could not develop programs to support the transition to clean energy. The campus has enough space to support clean energy training facilities. Washtenaw County would likely be very supportive of clean energy programs at WCC. Further, WCC graduates could find work all around the state, and even in other areas.
According to ZipRecruiter, the average starting salary for a wind turbine technician was nearly $43,000 per year. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for wind turbine technicians will grow by nearly 50% between now and 2031. This phenomenal growth rate translates into thousands of new jobs each year for at least the next decade. There is no reason to let this occupational education opportunity slip by. It’s amazing to me that a higher education institution that can prioritize the hiring of a dozen Vice Presidents cannot also prioritize the development of programs that will fill its classrooms and generate pathways to the middle class for dozens of Washtenaw County residents.
Photo Credit: Colin Howley , via Flickr
