For years this grid remained basically the same. The growth in power plants and transmission lines was steady and the educational system generating engineers maintained the same steady pace. But just as our electrical grid has aged so has the work force that runs and maintains it. And just as everything is aging new demands and new technologies are changing the face of power. The rate and type of growth – of new power sources, increased rate of transmission and now even types of transmission are out pacing the grid workforce.

So what does this mean? It means at just the time when new interest and new opportunities are arising, we are seeing a decline in the number of professors for power engineering (they do have to retire) and that maybe new professors prepared to instruct on the old and the new technologies have not been developed at the rates they should have.