Rooftop solar proposal alter APS Skilled machining jobs gocould unfilled business model
despite high jobless rate
A plan by the Arizona Corporation Commission staff that utilities spend Cory operations manager forPublic OwensService Precision Carson City, moreBaltazar, on rooftop solar has Arizona Co.ofdefending its says that model findingand a qualified computer-numeric controlled machine business solar practices. operator can take months. He’s not alone in his frustrations. Filling skilledstaff positions is a growing problem at machine andinfabrication shops ACC presented a plan it called a “paradigm shift” response to APS’ throughout the region. Machine shops in both regions are hard-pressed annual filing that shows how the utility would meet the state’s renewable to fill openings welders, fabricators operators, as well as energy standard.for The plan calls for APS toand goCNC beyond state requirements engineers andpercent programmers, despite July from unemployment rates of 12.5 of getting 30 of its solar capacity rooftop systems. percent in Carson City and 13 percent in Reno-Sparks. The issue, as written in the staff report, is that rooftop solar represents “There is a lot of general labor, but they usually are coming out of a cheaper way for the utility to deploy its renewable resources. APS construction,” Baltazar says. “Those positions I can fill without a contends the way commission staff figured costs doesn’t consider all problem, but any kind of skilled machinist position or supervisory factors, including prices that would rise on non-solar customers in the position takes a long time to fill. It usually will be an accident if I get wake of more people adopting the technology. somebody.” “Our goal at APS is to educate stakeholders on all the costs,” said Jim Manufacturing companies in the state have shed approximately 10,000 McDonald, a spokesman for the utility. Those in the solar industry say jobs the past few years, says the Nevada Manufacturers Association. But the move by APS marks a change in direction and offers a glimpse of many of those jobs were for general production workers who lacked a company that is trying to protect its business. the technical knowledge needed to perform more complicated work. “Unfortunately this isn’t a surprise,” said Michael Neary, executive “If you need someone with 10 years experience, a lot of people drop director of the Arizona Solar Energy Industry Association, a trade off,” Baltazar says. “If someone were to move into Carson City and group of various companies involved in the industry, including need 25 machinists, they would have to bring the people with them; utilities. “APS is a heavily regulated monopoly that is trying to they are just not out there. It is a dwindling workforce.” Jeff Lawrence, preserve its market.” operations manager for the northern Nevada division of Nevada
The discussion likely will continue next month, when the ACCintakes Industry Excellence, which helps manufacturing companies the up the utility’s plan to implement its spending on solar for 2013. state streamline their processes, says managers of companies in the Silver State formerly could bring on unskilled labor and teach them Different the basics ofapproaches assembly and production. However, Lawrence says, those same companies now require an employee base with a higher level of Arizona’s renewable standard utilities 15 percent technical skills, fromenergy machinists andrequires millwrights on to thegetproduction of their powerengineering from sources as solar bypersonnel. 2025. Of that total, 30 floor through andsuch maintenance percent must come from rooftop systems on businesses and homes. “The skills level in manufacturing has definitely increased, and APS has been successful in gettingthat solar on roofs,level,” in large part through employee skills haven’t matched increased Lawrence says. customer incentives. The money for those incentives is part of a tariff all customerstakes pay asa part of their bills. “Everything higher levelmonthly skills because it is almost all computer programmed.” Western Nevada College and Truckee While APSCommunity would not have to add more panels to rooftops until Meadows College both havesolar training programs to train 2015 for homesand andfabrication 2020 for businesses, commission staffalso saidworks those manufacturing workers, and each school systems a better rate ofitsreturn forprograms the utility’s ratepayers and with areaoffer companies to tailor training to meet the needs of regional wants morebusinesses. focus on that instead of large utility scale systems. Jim associate that deanAPS of applied at TMCC, says The New, staff proposes follow atechnologies least-cost model in selecting the manufacturing technologies program renewable sources, regardless of where thoseincludes systems instruction are installed. in machining, welding and production systems, as well solar. as in That would lead to increased spending on developing rooftop supporting programs such as drafting. Each semester at TMCC aboutconcept 20 to 25ofstudents in the machining program. About “The pursuingenroll the least-cost renewable (kilowatt-hour half are currently production elements workers hoping to proposed upgrade generation) is oneemployed of the fundamental of staff’s their knowledge and skills to land higher-paying or less paradigm shift for REST (renewable energy standards andmenial tariffs) jobs, New says. TMCC in recent years also retooled some of its programs,” the report said. training programs to reflect regional economic trends. TMCC used to run several hundred students per year through its welding APS’ concern is that the recommendation doesn’t take into account all program, New says. The program once focused on the needs of the