The Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE; Greenwood Village, Colorado), a nonprofit organization made up of organizations such as Exelon, Entergy, Reliant-MidAtlantic, FPL, Xcel, the APPA and the NRECA, among others, graduated its first employees this spring from an online degree program in Electric Power Technology.

EPCE (www.epceonline.org) is a unique collaboration of electric utility employers, associations, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and Bismarck State College (BSC) of North Dakota, working together to address the industry's looming retirement bubble. While exact figures are not available, the coalition estimates that approximately 30% to 50% of its technician employees may be lost due to retirement in the next five to 10 years.

To address this need, the EPCE coalition was formed to co-develop an accredited online education program in electric power technology to train new hires and upgrade incumbent workers. The coalition chose BSC as its education provider. The EPCE-sponsored electric power technology program, which consists of an A.A.S. degree and two certificates, is designed by the industry so that it is standardized and directly applicable on the job.

Launched in September of 2001, more than 232 employees from 25 different utilities across the country have already participated in the program. This May, three employees — two from Pepco and one from OG&E — are the first to graduate with their associate's degree in electric power technology, achieved completely over the Internet.

Dane Merkel, a supervisor of overhead lines from Pepco, enrolled in the program so that he could perform his job better, which entails supervising 34 linemen in the field. Through the program, Merkel, who had a bachelor's degree and 12 years industry experience, gained more knowledge about the technical aspects of electric power that he could apply on the job.

Jason Stone, an OG&E meter reader, wanted to advance his education in order to apply for a position as a meter technician. Unable to find a program of this kind in this hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma, Stone also turned to the Internet.

Students in the program log on to the BSC Web site 24/7 for their assignments, chats, exams and discussion boards. On average, BSC instructors have 10 years industry experience and are attuned to the time constraints of energy workers who typically can be called away during power outages and bad storms. BSC has been educating the power industry for more than 25 years.
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