WIND NEEDS EDUCATORS

Wind power jobs are abundant, but training is scarce
Mark Larabee, February 9, 2009 (The Oregonian)

"Last spring, Vestas Wind Systems donated a 12,000-pound turbine hub to Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles so students enrolled in the wind technician training program could get their hands on the very equipment they would one day maintain.

"Today, it sits in storage near Portland International Airport waiting for completion of a new lab building…The college, which runs the only certified wind technician training program in the West, needs more money to meet a huge demand for skilled workers…[There is] a $400,000 state grant for the lab [but]… Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proposed budget didn't include $8 million toward a $19.5 million, 23,000-square-foot training center."

A montage of wind turbines. Windy. From windpowernow via YouTube.

"One thing that did make it into Kulongoski's spending plan is up to $19 million cash to entice Vestas to expand its North American headquarters in Portland. Vestas is the world's leading supplier of wind power…In this economy, no one is sure what will remain in the state budget…The state is facing an estimated $1 billion shortfall for 2009-11…

"This spring, 72 Columbia Gorge graduates will have jobs waiting, maintaining wind turbines that are going up by the dozens east of the Cascades. Demand for the skilled workers, who can earn $22 to $33 an hour depending on experience, is many times what the college is able to provide…The school offers one-year certificates and two-year degrees…In the next four years…wind farms from Oregon to Montana will need 500 to 600 technicians…It takes one technician to maintain every nine wind turbines…"

Climbing up the inside of a wind turbine. Slow but fascinating. From tiondgren via YouTube.

"Wind energy companies, including PGE, Vestas, Iberdrola Renewables, and Suzlon Energy, have donated more than $1 million to Columbia Gorge Community College over the past three years in cash, equipment, scholarships, staff time and technical assistance…The school also received a $1.7 million U.S. Labor Department grant to expand over three years. By 2010, 106 technicians will graduate from the school, still not enough to meet demand.

"The bright spot for everyone in the debate is what might happen with the federal stimulus package being worked out between Congress and the White House. No one is sure how much money Oregon will receive, but policymakers are gearing up for the day the cash arrives. "