As the electric power industry moves forward with new technology, the workforce that is needed to design, build, and manage the next generation of systems will undergo an equal if not greater transformation
Service delivery models are today undergoing unprecedented change to accommodate the needs of customers trying to navigate business and market uncertainties. Around the world, industrial manufacturers are facing new and familiar challenges ranging from economic and competitive pressures and the tightening availability of resources, to aging workforces, rising technology and operating costs, and heightened focus […]
If you’re a power plant supervisor, you’ve undoubtedly been forced to find a worker during off-hours on the spur of the moment. New tools are being used today that allow automating the callout process—and workforce schedule. Last summer City Utilities (CU) of Springfield, Missouri, joined a list of power companies automating workforce scheduling and callout […]
It’s become a cliché that government would be better if it were only run by private-sector managers using standard business practices. However, there are significant differences between the private sector and government. This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of those differences. Create your own user feedback survey To learn 18 more differences, read “25 Differences Between […]
For most of the history of the power industry, utility jobs were secure and long-tenured. Though they continue to offer greater stability than many other comparably paid jobs, forces on both sides of the
Broadly put, today’s power plant operations are a mix of automated operations and manual or procedural steps. A plant may have hundreds of control loops, interlocks, permissives, and safety systems. In
New worker training has traditionally meant classroom instruction and wading through a big pile of printed materials. But videos can offer deeper and more rapid understanding of critical issues, especially for younger generations. The Electric Power Research Institute has developed a series of videos to help power plants train new workers more effectively. Inexperienced new […]
Coal-fired power plants around the U.S. are closing—rapidly. It’s a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future as dozens more units are slated for closure in the next few years. According to a
In the January issue, I introduced the concepts of highly reliable organizing (HRO) and resilience engineering with a promise to address the remaining principles. As a quick review of the first article
Generating companies wondering if concerns about cybersecurity are overblown got some rude wake-up calls this winter. The first call came when Ukrainian media reported that a December 23 blackout that left
