A strong gale was tearing through the eastern plains on a brisk April morning, slamming doors, snatching hats, and of course, keeping the area's many wind turbines very active.
In other words, it was a fine morning to be a student at the Wind Energy Technology program at Northeastern Junior College, in Sterling, one of the few degree programs in the country for aspiring wind turbine technicians.
The Wind Tech lab is housed in a nondescript building with metal siding on the north side of town. Inside, protected from the incessant gusts, nineteen-year-old Trent Shaver was in his wiring class, building a simple practice circuit that controls some lights and buzzers in a metal cabinet.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to get an understanding how it works before we start building more complicated circuits,鈥� he said, preparing a length of copper wire to complete the circuit. Wiring and electrical work is an important component of the wind technician training.
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Meanwhile his classmate Benjamin Sussman was focused on another important part of the curriculum: safety protocols. Preparing to practice the ladder climb, he retrieved a hardhat from his locker and buckled into a body harness.
鈥淵ou kind of want it tight enough that you鈥檙e not going to slip around in it,鈥� Sussman said, demonstrating his safety training, 鈥淏ut you don鈥檛 want it too tight.鈥�
All the safety gear suddenly seemed excessive as Sussman approached his target: a bright yellow ladder of notably modest height 鈥� maybe 20 feet tall - mounted to the outside wall.
Of course, the yellow ladder was just a simulation, designed to give students a chance to practice the more physical requirements of wind technician work. When he starts working in the field, Sussman must be prepared to climb way higher: turbines are typically mounted upwards of 300 feet into the air. At heights like those, the harness becomes a literal lifeline, and knowing how to use one properly could mean the difference between life and death.
Clearly, the job is incompatible with a fear of heights - not a problem for Sussman.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in climbing something super tall,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 climbed a lot of trees as a kid.鈥�
But Sussman isn鈥檛 just indulging his love of heights here. He鈥檚 making a smart career move. Demand for wind technicians is growing rapidly. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, wind turbine technician is now in the country.
And, a recent report from E2, a national nonpartisan advocacy group focusing on environment and the economy, found that clean energy jobs are in Colorado, and nowhere faster than on the Eastern Plains, where nearly all of Colorado鈥檚 wind energy is being developed. In that context, the NJC Wind Tech program is playing a vital role in building a local, in-demand clean energy workforce.
Keeping up with demand for wind techs
Kevin Schroeder has been trying to manage that workforce demand from within the industry, as senior vice president for renewable operations at Invenergy, a global clean energy producer with wind farms in Eastern Colorado and across the country.
鈥淎s the industry has grown, there鈥檚 certainly been an increased need in qualified individuals to do the maintenance work, to do the repair work at these facilities,鈥� Schroeder said.
Last year, his company installed over 550 Megawatts (MW) of wind capacity across the country and doubled their national wind technician workforce to 400. In 2024, they expect to increase wind installations by about 50% and plan to hire another 250 wind technicians.
鈥淓ach quarter we have more projects,鈥� Schroeder said. 鈥淲e continually have job postings out there looking for qualified individuals. So, it has been difficult to keep up.鈥�
The jobs aren鈥檛 just plentiful; they also pay well. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the median pay for wind turbine technicians at a year.
Amy Caillouette graduated from the NJC wind tech program last year and just landed one of those well-paying jobs with an offshore wind developer operating off the coast of Rhode Island and New York.
鈥淚 couldn't be happier with the offer that I have right now,鈥� said Caillouette, who recently left a career in the nonprofit world to follow her lifelong dream of working on windmills.
She reported that the new job will roughly double her previous salary, and she鈥檚 thrilled about her future prospects there.
鈥淚'm now getting to do something that I really love outside with my hands every day that's changing the world and I'm being substantially compensated for it,鈥� she said.
What鈥檚 more, the sustained demand for knowledgeable wind technicians means job security is built in.
鈥淚 have seen and experienced that once you're in wind, you can be in it for as long as you'd like,鈥� Caillouette said. 鈥淭here's lots of growth opportunity.鈥�
Job markets meet the clean energy transition
The hiring spree for wind turbine technicians in Colorado and beyond is the direct result of the clean energy transition, the process of retiring coal and other fossil fuel energy sources in favor of renewable energy alternatives like wind and solar.
In Colorado, that transition is being fast-tracked.
鈥淗istorically, Colorado relied on coal generation as the largest source of our electricity,鈥� said Dominique Gomez, deputy director of the Colorado Energy Office. 鈥淐urrently, we will retire every remaining coal plant in the state by the end of this decade.鈥�
Beyond sunsetting coal power plants, the state is a 100% renewable energy grid by 2040.
鈥淭hat is just an amazing, huge transition in such a short period of time,鈥� Gomez said.
As renewable energy swoops in to replace all that coal power, Colorado鈥檚 capacity to produce it will more than double by the end of the decade.
Wind energy is leading the way. Today, of Colorado鈥檚 nearly 7,000 MW of renewable energy capacity comes from wind produced on the Eastern Plains, and by 2030 the state will add of wind energy capacity.
Naturally, all those new turbines will require technicians with special expertise to keep the blades spinning.
Wind Tech jobs on the Eastern Plains
In Colorado those spinning blades are located on the Eastern Plains - a pattern likely to continue as that state鈥檚 wind development expands.
鈥淏asically 100% of wind is in rural areas,鈥� said Jason Winter, an instructor in the NJC Renewable Energy Department. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just geographically how it has to be.鈥�
That means all those wind turbine technician jobs will be Eastern Plains jobs. That鈥檚 certainly the case at Invenergy, where 9 in 10 full-time wind technician positions in Colorado are local to the Eastern Plains.
Winter, who grew up on the Eastern Plains himself, sees a lot of potential in the wind industry for local communities and the regional economy.
鈥淚f [local kids] don鈥檛 have a family farm to work on they really don鈥檛 have a lot of opportunity,鈥� Winter said, adding that many young people have little choice but to move away from eastern Colorado after high school. 鈥淣ow when we have, all of a sudden, really good paying jobs, that makes sense to stay here. I think that鈥檚 huge for the community.鈥�
And as the local renewable energy employment opportunities get bigger, NJC鈥檚 renewable energy program is growing, too. A building expansion will more than double the area of the lab next year. And the program just received a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new certificate program for solar energy technicians starting next fall.
Meanwhile, the job prospects for Winter's current students are strong even before they graduate. Benjamin Sussman secured an internship with Invenergy. He'll spend the summer break working on turbines north of Sterling.
鈥淚 think this is honestly one of the greatest mix of things that I could do,鈥� Sussman said. 鈥淚t involves climbing things, involves working with my hands. There's an electrical component, a mechanical component, and it's mostly environmentally friendly.鈥�
