Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – With the first commercial wind farm in Maine located just 14 miles from its campus in Mars Hill, Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle is now poised to offer the only program in New England to train wind power technicians. The Maine Community College System Board of Trustees formally approved a proposal last Wednesday brought forth by the northernmost campus to introduce a wind power technology program. College officials plan to offer initial courses as early as this coming January, with the intent of bringing the full program online next fall.
“We are actively pursuing all of the pieces that we need now to have a fully-enrolled, associate degree level program running in the fall,” said NMCC President Timothy Crowley. “In addition to associate degree level, the program will provide people in the region an opportunity to develop the skills that are needed to participate in this economic development venture that’s going to go on in northern Maine – and across the state of Maine – for many years to come. We have many electricians in Aroostook County that have been trained at this institution, and with some new skills and exposure to new technology, they can participate in this, as well.
“Given the recent and current activity in our region, and the discussion statewide about the tremendous potential for further development of wind power throughout Maine, as well as in neighboring New England states and Canadian Maritime provinces, this program will meet both an immediate and an emerging need throughout the region,” he said. “We believe the wind power technology program will provide a valuable and needed resource for entities that erect turbines, as well as excellent placement opportunities for future graduates of the college.”
Wind power technicians are responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of wind turbine generators. Prospective employers include wind farm owners/operators and turbine manufacturers who frequently contract with owner/operators to provide maintenance and support. Current entry-level wages for a wind technician are $18 to $22 per hour.
“NMCC’s wind power technology program is a great example of the community colleges’ ability to respond quickly to the workforce needs of business and industry,” said Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons. “The program will offer students the skills they need to qualify for good jobs close to home.”
A report released earlier this year by a task force assembled by Gov. John E. Baldacci to consider issues of wind power development in Maine recommended that the state host two gigawatts of wind power by 2015 and three gigawatts by 2020. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Job and Economic Development Impact model, to host two gigawatts of power by the targeted deadline, at least 180 field technicians, administrators and managers will be needed.
Conservative estimates indicate Aroostook County has the potential to realize 50 to 80 new, long-term, highly skilled, high-wage technical positions in operation and maintenance for wind farms between 2009 and 2012. Additional employment opportunities are anticipated in neighboring northern Washington County, Franklin County in western Maine, and in the Atlantic Provinces. A two-year technical degree is the desired credential for entry into these positions.
“You open up your newspaper these days and there is almost invariably something in it about wind power,” said Alan Punches, NMCC vice president and academic dean. “Plans for wind farms are being sketched out across the state, and these farms are going to need technicians to service the turbines. The new wind power technology program at NMCC is designed to prepare a workforce for meeting that need, and is specifically designed not only to prepare new students for work in this field, but to re-train existing electronics professionals, as well.”
Work on establishing the curriculum for the wind power technology program was completed over the past year by NMCC faculty and staff in collaboration with wind developers and energy utilities who indicated to the college that the presence of a trained workforce would significantly enhance their ability to develop wind energy projects in the region.
“This is an industry that has already started to develop in Aroostook County, and will continue to develop in the state,” said Maine Public Service Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Brent M. Boyles. “We recognized a couple of years ago that we’re going to need a trained workforce, and we didn’t hesitate in coming right straight to NMCC and asking if it was possible to develop a curriculum that we might be able to train wind power technicians.
“We are very excited about the new wind power technology curriculum and look forward to working with staff and faculty at NMCC as this program develops. Educating a skilled workforce to support regional wind projects is an integral part of developing wind power that holds much promise for the economy of northern Maine,” he said. “We are looking at a whole new industry emerging in our area, which includes constructing a bulk transmission power line to electrically connect northern Maine to New England and creating ‘green’ jobs for wind operators and technicians in the renewable energy sector.”
Currently, MPS has 1,250 megawatts of renewable energy interconnection requests and provides power transmission delivery for excess existing generation located in northern Maine including the 42 megawatt Mars Hill wind farm. Future projects have the potential to stimulate additional jobs, as well as research and development initiatives in renewable energy. The multiplier impacts of wind farms and constructing a new transmission line will be significant to Aroostook County.
Boyles noted that one developer projects hiring approximately 930 construction workers for the wind projects alone, as well as 95 permanent jobs to maintain the various facilities.
“Training wind operators and technicians to support renewable energy projects, particularly wind, is an excellent opportunity for students and for the new emerging businesses in our area,” said Boyles.
David Holabird, General Electric site manager in Mars Hill, said the wind power industry is here and it’s going to grow.
“That’s the only direction I see it going in,” he said. “We need technicians with strong electrical and electronics backgrounds for troubleshooting and know the computers well. These are smart machines and we need smart people to take care of them.”
“As Horizon Wind has worked with NMCC to sew the seeds of this program,” said Edward Wright, project developer for Horizon Wind, “we look forward to reaping the harvest in the form of your graduates in a couple years.”
NMCC is ideally suited to provide wind power technology instruction. The college has existing programs in electrical construction and maintenance and computer electronics, two fields that serve as the foundations for the multi-disciplinary industry of wind power.
Demand in the electrical construction and maintenance program for this fall prompted college officials to add an additional cohort of freshmen students. Enrollment in that associate degree program has risen by 18 percent over last fall.
“Hopefully in a year we’ll have a full program and things will be blooming,” said Crowley, “… and the wind will be blowing strong. This is historic for this institution.”
