The number of high-paying utility jobs is shrinking in the U.S., a result of market pressures that have given way to newer, more efficient power plants.
Total direct utility employment has fallen from 550,000 in 2006 to 505,000 today, The Wall Street Journal reports, a trend that is eroding a source of jobs that are vital to rural areas. The losses are adding political pressure at a time when President Donald Trump has embraced blue-collar employment as a major issue.
Industry leaders say the shift—from older, coal-fired plants to newer, easier-to-operate plants—is inevitable. For instance, it takes five times as many coal mining and power plant workers to generate a megawatt hour of electricity as wind farm operators. Coal takes 50% more workers than natural gas and twice as many as solar.
Aside from the industry becoming more efficient, a flood of cheap natural gas and subsidies to renewable energy producers is also driving the trend.
“The power sector is just not going to contribute to the economy in terms of jobs the way it once did,” says Curt Morgan, president and chief executive of Vistra Energy Corp.
