Running head: THE FUTURE OF JOBS IN THE AMERICAN ENERGY INDUSTRY

The Future of Jobs in the American Energy Industry

Cruz Hulsey

Liberty High School

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The Future of Jobs in the American Energy Industry

The primary focus of my project is an internship with Portland General Electric,

where I am mentored with the lead project manger engineer, Mr. Ezra Richards, on a

Substation backup project serving downtown Portland. The following is an outline of

needs and expectations of the project. I have blacked out the actual budget number for

confidentiality purposes. After the project outline is my continued research into a broader

look at jobs in the American Energy Industry.

Project Information and Description

Project Information

Project Name: Marquam Substation Total Project $

Approved Budget:

Project #: PXXXXX Total Actual Cost $

(through Sept 2017):
Current Approved Revision # and 87 (201702) PGE Board Total Forecasted Project Cost: $
Forecast Version: Approved Multi-year
Budget)

Project Manager: Ezra Richards

Current Year Approved Budget $

(2017):
Project Start Date: January 2014 Current Year Actual Cost (YTD $
through Sept 2017):
AFR Project End Date: April 2019 Current Year Forecasted Cost $
(2017):
Forecasted Project End Date:

On Schedule (AFR Project End Yes On Budget (2017 Forecast vs Yes

Date vs Forecasted Project End 2017 Current Year Approved):
Date):
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Project Description

Why is the project necessary?

Currently, there is no adequate Substation backup plan for the Portland downtown core
network distribution systems sourced from Stephens and Canyon Substations. In
addition, much of the equipment at Stephens Substation – which currently serves
approximately 25 MVA of the load in the downtown core area – is antiquated and/or
non-standard and PGE does not carry an inventory of system spares to replace this
equipment.

The Marquam Substation project will mitigate the reliability concerns associated with
Stephens Substation serving the Portland downtown core area; will provide adequate
capacity for back-up service to the existing core area network systems served from
Canyon Substation, and will provide future capacity to align with the growth of the South
Waterfront District (currently served from Urban Substation).

Construction of Marquam Substation will also improve efficiencies by removing non-

standard 11kV feeders from the PGE system; thus, increasing T&D system reliability in
the Portland core area. Currently, the core area is partially served by several 11kV
underwater cables crossing under the Willamette River from Stephens Substation.
Testing of these underwater cables has determined that due to their age, a failure of
one or more cables could take place within five to ten years. The replacement schedule
for any of the underwater cables could take up to two years.

The Marquam Substation project spans beyond design and construction of the
Marquam site. Other substations and transmission lines will be interconnected with
Marquam Substation, including Eastport, Harrison, and Urban substations. PacifiCorp
Substation's, Harrison PACW and Lincoln PACW, will also be affected by the Marquam
project. The project duration will span four-five years and is anticipated to be complete
in spring 2019.

What is the physical description of work?

The designs for Marquam Substation and the Substation 13kV underground feeder get-
a-ways were completed and the construction contract was awarded to Black & Veatch
Construction Inc. Harrison Substation and the gas insulated switchgear was completed
and energized in 2016. Permitting activities for Marquam and Eastport Substation were
completed in 2016. All major equipment for Marquam Substation has been ordered and
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will be receipted in 2017. Engineering designs for the new Harrison-Marquam 115kV
transmission line are complete and have been sent out to bid in 2016. The design for
core area distribution system cutover from Stephens to Marquam is near completion.

In 2017, the work associated with building Marquam Substation and the 13kV feeder
get-a-ways sourced from Marquam will continue. The new Harrison-Marquam 115kV
transmission line pathway under the I-5 freeway will be constructed to the Marquam site
with the installation of the transmission cable occurring in mid-late 2017.

Construction will take place to route the Marquam 13kV distribution feeders from the
Marquam site to the downtown core area beginning in early 2017 with completion in
2018/2019.

What will this project accomplish?

The new Marquam 115/13kV GIS Substation in downtown Portland will complete in
2018 and will relocate the downtown core area network distribution system from
Stephens Substation on the east side of the Willamette River to the new Marquam site
on the west side of the river. The project will increase T&D reliability in the Portland
downtown core by standardizing to a13kV distribution system which will provide service
redundancy for the core area network as well as provide future capacity and
redundancy to the South Waterfront District.

To support the construction of Marquam Substation, improvements at five other PGE

substations and two PacifiCorp substations will be performed. These improvements will
bring the systems at these substations to current PGE standards, improving overall T&D
system reliability in the Portland downtown core area.

Project Accounting Work Orders (AWOs)

AWO Description Status

1000003486 Marquam Permitting In Progress - Complete 6-30-2018

1000003487 Marquam Substation Construction In Progress - Complete 4-30-2018

1000003488 Stephens Network Split Complete 2-28-2016

1000003489 Marquam UG Getaway Infrastructure In Progress - Complete 6-15-2018

1000003490 Lincoln - Urban 115kV Line Conversion In Progress - Complete 12-31-2017

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1000003492 Harrison - Marquam 115kV Line Construction In Progress - Complete 4-30-2018

1000003493 Stephens South Network Conversion In Progress - Complete 12-31-2018

1000003494 Stephens North Network Cutover In Progress - Complete 12-31-2018

1000003495 Marquam 3 Network Infrastructure In Progress - Complete 12-31-2018

1000003496 Marquam Environmental Cleanup Complete 12-31-2014

1000003497 Marquam Fiber Installation In Progress - Complete 4-30-2018

1000003591 Eastport Substation Replace Motor Operators In Progress - Complete 9-30-2017

1000003592 Urban Substation Relay Upgrades In Progress - Complete 12-31-17

1000003593 Marquam Substation Communication Equipment In Progress - Complete 04-30-2018

1000003594 Harrison Substation Construction Complete 3-31-2016

1000003595 Harrison Substation UG Getaways Complete 3-31-2016

1000003596 Harrison Substation Communications Complete 4-30-2016

1000003619 Stephens Network Transformer Replacement Complete 12-31-2014

1000003681 Eastport Substation Communications Equipment In Progress - Complete 12-30-2017

1000003682 Urban Substation Communications In Progress - Complete 12-31-2017

1000003876 Harrision Substation Transmission Drops Complete 12-31-2016

PACW Related Work (Harrison PACW & Lincoln

1000003877 In Progress - Complete 5-29-2017
PACW)

1000003878 Lincoln PACW - Urban Fiber Installation In Progress - Complete 12-31-2017

1000003879 Eastport Substation Getaways In Progress - Complete 12-31-2017

1000005700 Alder Substation Communications Complete 3-31-2016

1000006572 Marquam Radial Sub Construction In Progress - Complete 4-30-2019

1000006573 Marquam Radial Distribution Lines (Feeder) In Progress - Complete 4-30-2019

1000006691 Purchase 115-kV T-Line for PacifiCorp Complete 2-28-2017

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There are major changes happening in the American energy industry. The way

we create energy the way we send it out, and especially the way we use energy is very

different than any other time in the history of power. Energy generation and power

distribution — an $880 billion a year business — has changed more in the last 20 years

than in the preceding 100, and that change is likely to accelerate in the coming years

(IBEW, 2017). A combination of new technology, new software, regulations and

business models are creating jobs unlike any time before. The faster the industry

changes the faster a new workforce needs to change and grow with it.

In 2016 the Department of Energy published a report looking at available

employment in the American energy industry. They found that 1.9 million Americans

were employed directly in electric power generation. Another 373,000 were working

exclusively in solar energy with 160,000 in natural gas and around 54,000 in coal

mining. The Department found that there was another 2.3 million in energy

transmission, storage and distribution that includes powerline and pipeline workers. In

addition, there are more than 900,000 retail jobs in gas station workers and fuel dealers,

and when they include non-traditional energy workers the total number of energy related

jobs lands around 6.4 million. (Popovich, 2017).

Possibly the largest and most complex machine ever created by man (The

Largest, n.d.), it is now asked to do things it wasn’t designed to do as more and more

technologies become electricity based and the demands on the system change. Jobs

that used to thrive in industries like coal, oil, natural gas, hydro and nuclear are now

moving towards wind, solar and other environmentally friendly technologies. This

results in two major industry shifts as current workers need to adjust and learn new
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technologies, future workers will need to begin their educations in emerging fields in

order to generate the energy source. In addition, the workers who currently maintain

the infrastructure are working on repairs and outdated systems while trying to integrate

the new generation options into the current system to be available to consumers.

Concerns with integration was highlighted in a panel discussion at the

Department of Energy’s 2017 Grid Modernization Initiative Peer Review; the Utility, Co-

ops, and Grid Operators Panel discussed the trends utilities see and challenges they

face with the current grid, particularly surrounding the complexity of how to affordably

integrate new technologies and increasing distributed energy resources into the grid.

This Peer Review event included the Keynote speaker Subhash Paluru from the

Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), who discussed the challenges he and

many other utilities face including aging infrastructure, renewable energy generation

integration, and cyber and physical security. Addressing these challenges, he argued,

will lead the way to opportunities, particularly stemming from public-private partnerships

that can propel grid modernization into the future (Grid, 2017).

All of this is planning to avoid a future crisis, however Tiatiushkin explains that

the current reality is that 66% of the energy people use is still generated with the help of

fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, while 17% and 11% comes from nuclear

and hydroelectric sources respectively. Renewable sources, despite being widely

discussed in the media, account for only 7% of the total energy produced with the

largest consumption coming from household use (2016). Congressman Tom Reed’s

2015 report “A Plan for America’s Energy Future” argues a diversified and stable energy

industry is necessary for national security so that a threat to any specific resource
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doesn’t take down the entire grid. A call like this for a diverse energy resources supports

the growing need for a diverse workforce to go along with the changing industry.

Congressman Reed’s argument for energy security through diversification

counters proposals for the U.S. to move to a 100% renewable energy base. A 100%

renewable energy base would drastically change jobs in the energy industry and many

argue that the loss of jobs is significant while other argue that 100% renewable energy

would actually create more permanent and sustainable jobs. Steve Everley points out

that transitioning to 100% renewable would destroy nearly four million long-term jobs

nationwide and that the loss would not be distributed equally across the country with

some state experiencing a much higher rate of loss than others (2016). The counter to

Everley is Mark Jacobson’s claim that “When you account for the health and climate

costs-as well as the rising price of fossil fuels-win, water and solar are half the cost of

conventional systems…A conversion of this scale would also create job, stabilize fuel

prices, reduce pollution-related health problems and eliminate emissions from the

United States. There is very little downside to a conversion, at least based on this

science (Jacobson, et al., 2015).” There are additional concerns regarding the

possibility of shifting technologies. In Mooney’s article he reports:

The fight between researchers comes as the Trump administration has signaled

it does not believe the nation’s electric grid can support a quick and thorough

shift toward renewable energy, as Jacobson suggests that it can. As soon as this

week, Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to release a study of the grid that

renewable energy advocates fear will be used to criticize wind and solar and how

they affect the grid. The debate is crucial because, while it’s great to talk about
Running head: THE FUTURE OF JOBS IN THE AMERICAN ENERGY INDUSTRY
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wind and solar in theory, the reality is that the electrons that they generate have

to be sent through wires and transmission stations to satisfy needs at particular

places and at particular times — or else, we’ll have to come up with a way of

storing electricity on a large scale, which remains a mostly unsolved problem

right now (2017).

The argument about jobs is most importantly about the amount of permanent

jobs. In addition there are many barriers to moving through this transition including

cost, price, market conditions and, maybe most importantly, and the political climate

(Owusu, 2016). The current presidential administration argued that the high profile

Keystone XL pipeline project was going to create jobs and improve the economy, but by

design the increase of jobs is based on the construction part of the work and not the

long term maintenance, which only takes a fraction of the people to maintain.

Activist Bill McKibben in a 2012 interview and appearance on the Colbert Report

stated:

Probably the biggest single lie that they (fossil fuel companies) have promulgated

over and over again is that this would create, depending on whom you ask, tens

of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of jobs…There’d be temporary jobs

for a while, and then the point of a pipeline is, once you’ve got it no one ever has

to work there again…the real jobs come when we get off Big Oil (Everley, 2016)

It is clear that how we get our energy is changing and the jobs associated with

that are also going to have to evolve. The other significant aspect of employment in a

new energy industry is that who is going to continue to main the current aging system,
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the transition to new technologies and the process from generation to turning on the

lights at home. In a 2018 article by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

(IBEW), the union representing the men and women who are responsible for maintain

the current grid, and the actual “boots on the ground” or maybe better described as

“hooks in the air” repairing and replacing wires, substations, and transformers across

America; they give an example of how this transition might affect their members. “Smart

meters, for example are the minimal hardware, the ticket for admission that everything

else relies on, and only 70 million of 125 million household have them installed…An

obvious downside to automatic meters is the end of the need for meter readers. Then

again, there will be a lot more jobs installing, maintaining and upgrading the grid”

(2018).

Many of these traditional energy jobs have been through on-the-job-training or

apprentice programs instead of a traditional college path. With the changing industry

there is a higher demand ad workforce trained in science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM). In an Analysis of National Trends with a Focus on the Natural

Gas and Oil Industry, Baird, et al., focused “particularly in the oil and natural gas

industry. As the economy becomes increasingly reliant on workers with strong

quantitative and analytical skills, there is a growing need for policymakers to identify

efficient ways to prepare all youth — including those not continuing on to college — for

careers in STEM (2017). The study’s additional findings and recommendations

indicated that:

The receipt of a bachelor's degree in a STEM field and the attainment of a

certification or license (in any field) are important educational milestones that
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support success in the STEM labor market. However, in both absolute and

relative numbers, women and racial or ethnic minorities are less likely to earn

these critical degrees and to enter STEM employment. Without stronger support

for these traditionally underrepresented groups, the STEM economy in general

and the oil and natural gas industry in particular may fail to optimize the pool of

potential workers that it needs to sustain growth and innovation (Baird, 2017)

The IBEW contends that “the demand for workers who can light up the nation

has never been higher-but there are not guarantees that the new jobs will continue to be

good jobs (2017).” Jobs are changing in the American energy industry. While there will

still be a need for an initial laborer level of manual work for major construction and

instillation, the majority of the sustainable permanent jobs will be technical in nature,

and even the skilled labor positions are now required to provide supporting data and

system interface in their planning and projects. There will be a continuing need to

innovate, collect and review data, anticipate and project consumer needs and manage

the flow and reliability of energy. A new type energy worker is needed. America needs

groups of people who are diverse in thought, background and skills; a group of people

who understand that an energy revolution is happening now, and who are well prepared

and excited to move into a bright future.

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Works Cited

Baird, Matthew D., Robert Bozick, and Mark Harris, Postsecondary Education and

STEM Employment in the United States: An Analysis of National Trends with a

Focus on the Natural Gas and Oil Industry. American Petroleum Institute, 2017.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2115.html.

Everly, S. (2016, January 5). CLIMATE ACTIVISTS PUSH STUDY SHOWING 3.8

MILLION LOST JOBS FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSITION (Rep.).

Retrieved April 22, 2018, from EnergyInDepth website:

http://eidclimate.org/climate-activists-push-study-showing-3-8-million-lost-jobs-

from-renewable-energy-transition/

Grid Modernization Initiative Peer Review. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2018, from

https://www.energy.gov/under-secretary-science-and-energy/2017-grid-

modernization-initiative-peer-review

IBEW (December, 2017). Retrieved from

http://www.ibew.org/articles/17ElectricalWorker/EW1712/ElectricalIndustry.1217.html

IBEW (April, 2018). Retrieved from

http://www.ibew.org/articles/18ElectricalWorker/EW1804/SmartGrid_2.0418.html

Jacobson, M. Z., Delucchi, M. A., Bazouin, G., Bauer, Z. A., Heavey, C. C., Fisher, E., .
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. . Yeskoo, T. W. (2015). 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and. The Royal

Society of Chemistry Energy Environ. Sci., (8), 2093-2117. Retrieved April 22,

2018, from

https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/USStatesWWS.pdf.

Mooney, C. (2017, June 19). A bitter scientific debate just erupted over the future of

Americas power grid. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/19/a-

bitter-scientific-debate-just-erupted-over-the-future-of-the-u-s-electric-

grid/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c388553b41d

Owusu, P. A., & Asumadu-Sarkodie, S. (2016). A review of renewable energy sources,

sustainability issues and climate change mitigation. Cogent Engineering, 3(1),

1167990. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2016.1167990

Popovich, N. (2017, April 25). Today's Energy Jobs Are in Solar, Not Coal. Retrieved

from

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/25/climate/todays-energy-jobs-are-

in-solar-notcoal.html

Reed, T. (2015). H.R. Doc. at 1 (2015).

https://reed.house.gov/sites/reed.house.gov/files/plan%20for%20america's%20e

nergy%20future.pdf

The Largest Machine Ever Built. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/the-largest-machine-

ever-built

Tiatiushkin, A. (2016, October 30). The World's Electrical Power Grid as The Largest

Machine Ever Built [Web log post]. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from

http://www.kep.ua

U.S. Energy and Employment Report 2016. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.energy.gov/jobstrategycouncil/downloads/us-energy-and-

employment-report-2016