A coalition of organizations is throwing its weight behind a bill that would give up to $500,000 annually to companies that provide electrical training and other technical job opportunities to military veterans to help ensure the United States has a labor force that can meet the country’s growing energy needs.
“America’s energy future depends on a skilled workforce capable of designing, manufacturing, delivering, installing, and maintaining … electrical equipment and systems,” the coalition says in a letter it sent this week to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Because of the experience and training they receive, service members can excel at the kind of jobs that will increase as data centers and other big users of electricity increase the country’s energy consumption by 50% by 2050, the group says.
“Service members … possess mission-driven experience and technical skills that map directly to the needs of the electroindustry,” says the letter by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Data Center Coalition, American Lighting Association and more than a dozen other organizations.
Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., introduced the Veterans Energy Transition Act, H.R. 4105, this week. The bill would give organizations $10,000 for each veteran they hire and up to $500,000 annually to cover the organization’s costs for training, onboarding, relocating and helping new-hires obtain professional certifications. Service members’ spouses would be eligible for the assistance as well.
“As both a veteran and an engineer, I understand the value of the technical skill, discipline, and mission-driven leadership that our service members bring to the workforce — and how urgently our energy and manufacturing sectors need them,” Houlahan said when sponsoring the bill last year.
In testimony before a Veterans Committee subcommittee last month, Wes Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Electrical Distributors, touted the timing of the bill. “It will help to address worker shortages in our industry as well as the manufacturing and contractor sectors, at a time when demand for electrical and grid build out are expected to increase significantly,” he said.
Some 200,000 people transition out of the military each year, according to Department of Defense data included in Kiggans’ statement. At the same time, each year only about 7,000 electricians join the profession to replace about 10,000 electricians who leave the field, according to Electrical Contractor, the in-house publication of the National Electrical Contractors Association.
“This structural deficit reverberates through the broader energy sector at a critical moment,” Liza Reed, director of climate and energy at the politically centrist think tank Niskanen Center, said in testimony last month.
The bill’s focus on veterans is the right policy for attacking the labor shortage, she said. “Military training emphasizes precision, safety protocols, teamwork, and the ability to perform under pressure,” she told the House panel. “Many military occupational specialties reflect these traits and translate directly to energy sector positions. The VET Act would create a formal pathway to connect these talented individuals with employers who need them.”
