John Mertens has proposed a major training program for future energy related jobs. Mertens cites a report from the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP) that concludes that the United States is “facing a critical shortage of trained professionals to maintain the existing electric power system and design, build, and operate the future electric power system.” Mertens’ program would help provide tens of thousands of additional power grid construction and maintenance workers, as well as replacement of tens of thousands of skilled workers and engineers that are expected to retire in the next ten years.
The proposal uses $500 million of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to provide incentives and financial aid to 50,000 high school graduates over the next four years to enter technical school, community college, and four-year college programs to specifically become skilled energy sector workers and engineers, using existing funding mechanisms. The plan also includes using $100 million of funds from the ARRA to provide 100 competitive million dollar grants to engineering and science based charter high schools in urban areas. “Investing in infrastructure and renewable energy education will provide much bigger bang-for-the-buck than short-sighted, more expensive programs like Cash for Clunkers,” said Mertens. “It’s important to get the necessary human resources into the pipeline now.”
Mertens presents a National Energy Policy on his website that includes a long term goal of moving most passenger vehicles from liquid fuels to electricity by 2050, which would require a larger U.S. electricity generation capacity. He also proposes an upgrade of the U.S. electric power grid to accommodate renewable sources of electricity.
