The Value of Early Student Interventions in Building the Future Rural Energy Workforce

Finding engineering talent remains a major challenge in the energy sector in 2025, particularly for rural electric Cooperatives. According to the Energy Workforce Survey, turnover in utility companies in 2022 was at its highest in the 17year history of the survey. While retirements stabilized in 2021 and 2022 for most of the energy sector, retirements at Cooperatives were forecast to surpass the rest of the field in 2023. As has been discussed at previous REPCs, power-focused education within EE bachelor’s degree programs remains lacking in the United States, leaving Cooperatives to compete with larger utilities in more urban and suburban areas for a severely limited number of young engineers. While internships and cooperative education for college students can be a highly effective recruitment tool, students at that stage are committed to their field. If we are to build a skilled energy workforce capable of meeting the challenges of the energy transition and the grid of the future, we need to impress upon younger students the need for electric power engineers and the potential benefits of entering the field. In Southeast Ohio, Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) has established a highly effective program of Community and Career Connected Learning, connecting community organizations, schools, and businesses in the region to bridge the gap between education and employment. PSE has been heavily involved in BB2C’s activities for several years now, engaging with regional students as young as fourth grade in classroom visits, career days and career fairs, hands-on engineering activities, and job shadowing. This paper will discuss the value of earlier student interventions in driving career pathway interest based on BB2C’s research and program effectiveness in Southeast Ohio and will describe how electric Cooperative engineers can and should be engaging with schools in their regions to drive interest in electric power education and careers.