Florida Energy Workforce Consortium

Purpose

The Florida Energy Workforce Consortium (FEWC), formed in 2006, is developing solutions to meet the current and future work force needs of the state’s energy industry. Organized by the Governor’s workforce investment board, Workforce Florida, Inc., the FEWC includes representatives from major electric utilities and associations, contractors, organized labor, state economic development, workforce development, and education. The consortium’s primary goals are to develop accurate projections of future energy industry workforce needs detailed by occupation, and to prioritize those needs for focused educational and recruiting efforts. To ensure that solutions are developed in a sustainable and well-coordinated fashion, the FEWC is addressing several key objectives through five committees:

• Career Awareness: Improving the image of the industry and introducing to young people the high-paying jobs and career paths within it. [Carol Higley, JEA, Chair]
• Funding & Resources: Marshalling all available resources and focusing them on the most pressing challenges ahead. [Cindy Amor, TECO, Chair]
• Policy & Education: Impacting education public policy to support implementing energy industry-relevant education and training at the secondary and post-secondary levels with an eye toward opportunities to transfer knowledge from the existing workforce to entry-level workers. Also encouraging more alignment and cross-agency engagement in state and federal funding (e.g., Perkins, Workforce Investment Act) to address training needs. [Betsy Levingston, Lakeland Electric, Chair]
• Untapped Labor Sources: Attracting, recruiting and training workers from untapped and under-represented labor pools. [Kathleen Woodring, CLM Workforce, Chair]
• State and National Outreach: Raising awareness of the impending workforce shortages and its impact on the energy sector and the state’s economic development potential, thus avoiding potential adverse impacts to our state’s citizenry and businesses. [Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power, Chair]

Top Occupations of Concern

• Line Installers and Repairers
• Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters
• Welders
• Maintenance and Repair Workers
• Electricians
• Engineering Technicians
• Instrumentation & Control Technicians
• Power Plant Operators

What’s Ahead

The FEWC will continue to expand its membership to include contractors, their associations and labor organizations who provide contract labor essential to utility construction and operations. The workforce needs of both direct and indirect hires to the energy industry will be considered together because they rely on very similar job skills, and in many cases, compete for the same labor pool. It also will remain engaged with various state energy and climate change committees to assist in education and outreach components of Florida energy legislation.

For more information please contact Andra Cornelius, Workforce Florida, at acornelius@workforceflorida.com or 850.921.1119; or Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power Company at jlgrove@southernco.com or 850.444.6821