Strategies to Address the Problem of Exiting Expertise in the Electric Power Industry

Retirements, restructuring, and technology changes are producing an accelerating exodus of expertise from the electric power industry. In this paper we review the major approaches to address that challenge: managing available resources, outsourcing, automating, recording, and educating. The approaches may all be used in a comprehensive strategy to overcome exiting expertise. Each approach has different implications for the resources needed to be successful. The responses to date have not been sufficiently comprehensive and of adequate scale to address the looming workforce losses. Our thesis is that the needed leadership by executives, policymakers, and academia to comprehensively address the expertise exodus challenge will be enhanced by a better understanding of the diverse approaches and of where effective intervention with sufficient resources is needed.