Are you still digging out from the snow and ice that swept across the country over the weekend? If you live east of the Mississippi River, then the answer is probably a resounding “Yes!” From the Midwest and Northeast to wide swaths of the Southeast, Winter Storm Fern wreaked havoc across dozens of states.
Unfortunately, many of these areas were ill-prepared for the inches of ice and snow Fern dropped over a multiple-day span. The resulting chaos left hundreds of thousands without power—and too few workers available to restore it quickly. With climate change bringing more extreme weather each year, the need for more skilled electrical workers is clearer than ever.
Winter Storm Fern Prompts Coordinated Restoration Effort
Was the area where you live impacted by Winter Storm Fern? According to a T&D World article, author Nikki Chandler notes that “Winter Storm Fern swept across the U.S., bringing severe winter conditions, including…freezing rain, heavy snowfall, and dangerous travel conditions to much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.”
According to estimates by the Edison Electric Institute, “approximately 800,000 electricity customers across 10 states were without power due to Fern.” Moreover, “[d]amage from heavy ice, including fallen trees, downed power lines, and blocked access routes, is slowing restoration efforts in some areas.”
Despite extreme weather events happening with increasing frequency, many of the areas impacted by Winter Storm Fern are not equipped to handle such widespread outages. That’s why a coordinated effort involving workers from many other areas has been necessary.
Chandler notes that, “[a]head of the storm, investor-owned electric companies, electric cooperatives, and public power utilities mobilized a large-scale, multi-state response. More than 65,000 mutual assistance workers from at least 43 states and Canada have been deployed—many pre-staged to support rapid restoration once conditions allowed.”
Winter Storm Fern has reminded experts in the power generation industry what the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers has been signaling for years now: the United States needs tens of thousands of workers with fundamental electrical skills to ensure a stable electrical grid for the future.
How to Train the Next Generation of Electrical Experts
Electrical skills form the most fundamental skill set critical throughout industry. How do companies and schools train the next generation of professionals with the electrical skills they need to succeed? A thorough review of training systems is a great place to start. Do employees and students have access to hands-on training with actual components they’ll encounter on the job?
If not, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure a competent workforce. For example, Amatrol and its sister company, DAC Worldwide, offer the most complete range of training systems and tools to teach the entire array of critical electrical skills that technicians and production personnel need to thrive in the modern workplace.
Amatrol
Be sure to check out Amatrol’s variety of hands-on electrical training systems that feature the real-world components workers will encounter in the field! If you’re wanting to establish a solid baseline of electrical skills, check out two of Amatrol’s most popular electrical training systems:
- Any electrical training program must start with the basics of AC/DC electricity. Amatrol’s Portable AC/DC Electrical Learning System (990-ACDC1) teaches the fundamentals of AC and DC electrical systems used for power and control in industrial, commercial, agricultural, and residential applications.
- The workhorse of any comprehensive electrical training program should be Amatrol’s Electric Motor Control Learning System (85-MT5). This flagship electrical trainer teaches learners how to operate, install, design, and troubleshoot AC electric motor control circuits for a variety of applications.
DAC Worldwide
Amatrol’s sister company, DAC Worldwide, also offers a wide variety of electrical trainers that will give users hands-on experience with real industrial components. Here are two of DAC Worldwide’s most impressive electrical trainers:
- DAC Worldwide’s Electrical Generation Fundamentals Training System (490-000) represents a true simulator depicting multiple power plants on a grid. The unit basically acts as the control center for a generating station and simulates four separate generating units. The system demonstrates the principles of generator operation and represents the relationships that an operator must master in order to confidently operate generators.
- DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000) is a realistic training device that replicates the conditions and circumstances that an electrical worker encounters when making common power transformer connections in the field and industry. This self-contained, tabletop training system provides a safe, inexpensive, yet realistic alternative to paper-based learning without the danger of full-voltage field experience.
Consult with an expert at Amatrol today to learn how you can take the first step toward teaching the electrical skills that will set learners up for success in the modern workplace.
About Duane Bolin
Duane Bolin is a former curriculum developer and education specialist. He is currently a Marketing Content Developer in the technical training solutions market.
