The nation's electric grid faces mounting pressures from aging infrastructure, growing energy demand and increasingly frequent extreme weather events. A team led by Penn State researchers is working to address a less visible but equally critical challenge: the future workforce needed to keep the power flowing.
The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure cited aging energy systems and growing reliability concerns as significant challenges facing the nation's power network. Researchers said maintaining a skilled workforce is an equally important part of ensuring long-term grid resilience.
The project, "Bridging the Canyons: Exploring Workforce Transitions in Power Generation for Energy Resilience," recently received a $1 million award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The interdisciplinary effort brings together researchers from Penn State, the University of California, Irvine, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to better understand how workforce transitions and climate-related risks could affect the reliability of the electric grid.
The project is led by Catherine Berdanier, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and includes Jacqueline O'Connor, professor of mechanical engineering, and Seong Ji Jeong, assistant professor of workforce education and development, all at Penn State.
While most people expect electricity to be available whenever they turn on a light switch, maintaining that reliability depends on a complex system of infrastructure and highly skilled workers, O'Connor said.
"The electric grid is facing a convergence of challenges," O'Connor said. "Infrastructure is aging, new high-capacity loads are being added to the system, and climate-related events are placing additional stress on grid operations. At the same time, many experienced utility workers are approaching retirement."
According to Berdanier, utility companies are increasingly concerned about preserving decades of institutional knowledge as veteran employees leave the workforce. Those workers often possess expertise that is difficult to document in manuals, particularly when responding to emergencies and restoring power after severe weather events.
To help address those concerns, the team will develop the VOLT Nexus Model, a web-based tool designed to predict future workforce and energy needs across selected states. The model will allow researchers and industry partners to examine different scenarios and identify potential gaps between available workers and workforce demands.
The research team will also examine how workforce shortages and climate-related disruptions can compound one another. For example, flooding, hurricanes and other disasters may not only damage infrastructure but also affect the ability of employees to reach critical facilities during emergencies.
"Keeping the power on during extreme weather depends on more than equipment," Berdanier said. "It depends on people."
Berdanier said the project fills an important research gap by combining technical energy-system modeling with workforce data to help utilities better anticipate future challenges.
"With the electric grid, we don't have the luxury of waiting until something breaks," Berdanier said. "By bringing together workforce data and energy system modeling, we can help stakeholders identify emerging risks and make informed investments before those risks become crises."
In addition to developing predictive tools, the project will create training and workforce development programs aimed at preparing the next generation of energy professionals. The researchers said those efforts will help transfer critical knowledge from experienced workers while building a stronger pipeline of talent for the industry.
The proposal grew out of interdisciplinary discussions led in part by O'Connor through Penn State's Climate Consortium, where researchers, industry partners and other stakeholders explored emerging challenges related to energy resilience, workforce development and climate change.
Jeong said the project was inspired in part by conversations with utility leaders, power plant operators and engineers, who repeatedly identified workforce retention and development among their most pressing challenges.
"Even when discussing technical issues, workforce development kept rising to the top of the conversation," Jeong said. "It became clear that maintaining a reliable grid depends not only on infrastructure, but also on the people who operate and maintain it."
Jeong said the team was encouraged by how receptive industry partners have been to the project's interdisciplinary approach.
"Utility leaders recognize that today's challenges cannot be solved through engineering alone," Jeong said. "Workforce development, education, social science research and human-centered approaches all play important roles in addressing the complex issues facing the electric grid."
Electricity powers every aspect of modern life, Berdanier said.
"Ensuring a skilled and resilient workforce is essential to keeping communities, businesses and critical services running safely and reliably in the years ahead," she said.
Collaborators include Natascha Buswell, associate professor of teaching in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Kate Forrest, senior scientist in the Advanced Power and Energy Program, both from the University of California, Irvine. At EPRI, collaborators include Bobby Noble, senior program manager.
