NW schools offer training in renewable energy tech - Portland Business Journal:

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As a result, the handfup of Oregon community colleges and technical schoolsz with renewable energy programs have beefed up clasd sizes and on July 13 the lates t entrant in the field makes its in Vancouver, Wash. ­— a new spin-off of the 30-year-ol d — will start out with two classes totalingh 50 students who will embark ona six-mont h course to become wind turbine technicians. New classes will start each “We have done the markef study and the demandsare incredible,” said Colleejn Piller, the school’s director of Tracy Rascoe, the program’s director, says students will likely be hiredr by turbine manufacturers, other repair service s or directly by wind farm owners.
But industry experts say that cooling credit markets have sloweds the growth of renewable energy develpers, tempering the once insatiable demandd for trained technicians. Portland-based Renewableds — the country’s second-largest wind energyy developer with morethan 2,000 megawattz of installed capacity — last year hired 61 wind energy technicianes to service turbines. “Las year, I would say our number one risk as a company was retaininy and recruiting a qualifiedwork force. The businesws was growing that fast,” said Iberdrola spokeswomanb Jan Johnson. “This year, I don’g think that’s the same anywhere in the country.
” That could prove problematic for training programs at schools like in The The school graduated its firsrt 11 students fromits two-year wind technician degree prograjm in June. It also received grant funding to boost its capacitt from one class of 32 to two classexs with 36students each. Suzanne the adult education coordinator at Columbia GorgdeCommunity College, said the school is in the proces s of updating an earlier industry needs assessment to more accurately gaugew demand for their “We’re very curious to see how they’re trying to weathetr the economic storm,” she said.
Piller said the Northwesg Renewable Energy Institute works with the industry to assess the need and coule make adjustments to clasws sizes as new classes start each The institute also cautions students to be flexible on job locatiobn in recognition that demand in Oregon coulfd be waning in theshorty term. “It’s come up severa times. We have people say, ‘Where are you goint to put them?’ Where there are positionsz available,” Piller said. “Their location may not be the butif they’re open they may go elsewhere.” Meanwhile, elected officials are trying to boosyt the volume of available renewablee energy classes. U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden has proposed a Community Colleges Energy Training Act that wouldallocate $100 millio to community colleges for renewabld energy program. Half of that would go to bolstetrexisting programs, while the remainder would be used to start-up new programs. Job availabilityy is less of a concernat , wherse industry giants like have designexd and contributed equipment to associates degree programs aimed at feedingg their own workforce needs. Elsewhere, enrollment in ’zs four-year engineering degree program for renewable energy systemsd hit 95 students in Portland and 34 at its KlamathbFalls campus.