The Department of Energy is awarding nearly $100 million for 54 smart grid workforce training programs that Secretary Steven Chu says will help prepare the next generation of workers in the utility and electrical manufacturing industries.

The projects will leverage more than $95 million in funding from community colleges, universities, utilities and manufacturers to develop and implement training programs that will train approximately 30-thousand Americans in an effort to modernize the nation’s electrical grid, and implement smart grid technologies in communities across the country.

The programs will focus on training activities that support electricians, line workers, technicians, system operators, power system engineers, cyber security specialists and transmission planners.

The funding builds on more than $4 billion in Recovery Act funding for smart grid deployment and demonstration projects nationally.

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