What is the National Utility Industry Training Fund?

We are a partnership between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and several forward-thinking utility companies across the United States who believe that we can accomplish more together than we can separately. Our mission is to provide employees and prospective employees with the best training available in the industry today.

Why Did We Decide to Collaborate?

The beginning of the baby boom generation retirements and the general decline in the population of America’s workforce is beginning to create a shortage of skilled workers across the nation. All industries are competing with one another in an increasingly smaller pool of qualified workers.

In 19909, the utility industry’s workforce peaked with an employment level of approximately 550,000 employees. By 2007, employment had decreased to approximately 400,000 workers. This 27.3% decline was the result of many factors, such as attrition, a reduction in maintenance and construction, process improvements, an increase in overtime for the workers remaining, etc.

It is crucial to the continued vitality of the utility industry and to the safety of the nation as a whole that current utility industry employees receive continual upgrade training and that we prepare the next generation of workers to enter the industry. This need is immediate. Workers are needed to replace those who will retire. Additional workers will be required to repair and maintain existing systems, as well as build new infrastructure to meet new environmental requirements and the ever increasing demand for power.

To address the current shortage of trained workers and the need to continually upgrade training, the IBEW and several sponsoring utilities have launched the concept of regional training centers to be operated under the National Utility Industry Training Fund (a Taft-Hartley training trust fund).

Our initial focus will be the utilities that fall into the three largest categories --- investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities. To address the workforce development needs of these utilities, four regional training centers have been established as a one-stop shopping venue for recruiting and training for the utility trades. The intent is to provide these four centrally located bases of operations, all with access to highways, airports and accommodations, to ensure uniformity of training and maximum utilization. Each training center offers classroom facilities and a fully stocked outdoor training yard that provides a real-work environment.  A fifth center, owned by IBEW Local 77 is in the planning stages.

A Taft-Hartley education trust has been established and initially funded to offer education and training for utility pre-apprentices, apprentices, journeymen, and those in related trades who need more training. The sponsors of the Trust Fund are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the participating host utilities where the regional training centers are located. The four training centers are located at:

The training center being planned by IBEW Local 77 will be located at Richland, Washington.

The IBEW and the participating utilities believe that the training needs of the utility industry will be addressed in a more cost-effective manner by working together rather than each organization repeating the same efforts individually. The costs of advertising, recruitment, training, and retention can be lowered and the training can be administered more effectively under this collaboration.

The National Utility Industry Training Fund provides a forum where utilities can join forces with each other in collaboration with the IBEW to achieve common goals that benefit all. It has been established as a long-term, strategic approach to address both short- and long-term needs with a flexible structure in which a variety of initiatives that integrate workforce and economic development issues can be addressed.