For Community Colleges, Wind Technician Training Is a Growth Business

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For Community Colleges, Wind Technician Training Is a Growth Business
By Kate Galbraith
Wind turbine technicians are strongly in demand — and community colleges are moving quickly to fill the need.
In recent months, the Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan has added a wind course, as has the Lake Region State College in North Dakota. Riverland Community College in Minnesota will hold its first turbine classes this fall. Altogether, Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association, said there are more than 100 such programs for renewable energy around the country — more than 80 of them created in the last two years.
According to Jan Johnson, a spokeswoman for Iberdrola Renewables, a wind developer, the oldest wind technician training program in the country dates back only to 2004 — at Iowa Lakes Community College (which, according to Business Week, has seen enrollment in its turbine program soar to 102 today from 15 back then).

Ms. Johnson noted that Iberdrola — which also supports a program at Columbia Gorge Community College in Oregon — has a several wind technician openings around the country. Another skill strongly in demand, she said, is meteorology — because of the need for better forecasting of the wind in order to integrate its power more smoothly into the electric grid.
"There's been quite a bit of hiring even in this economy," Ms. Johnson said.
Technical training is increasingly available for solar installers too. Ryan Hunter of Meridian Solar, a Texas installer, said that a one-year program at San Juan College in New Mexico is well-regarded, and Solar Energy International runs workshops around the country. Many, however, appear to be full.
We need the same kind of commitment to renewable alternative energy sources here at Ohio's community colleges!
Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party
www.ohiogreens.org
www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen.org/