How much do you pay for electricity where you live? Have you noticed the price of power steadily increasing over the last several years? In addition to pain at the gas pump and grocery store checkout line, many Americans also dread the monthly electric bill arriving in the mail.

In many areas across the country, the worries over utility rates and natural resource consumption are just beginning, as artificial intelligence (AI) companies seek to build hundreds of large data centers in a wide variety of states.

Opponents of new data centers argue that current electrical grids in many areas are simply not designed to meet the tremendous power demands of hyperscale data centers. Not only do they fear higher utility costs, but many people also worry about the likelihood of extended blackouts in case of severe weather.

Regardless of the political outcome of the many challenges to proposed data centers, the debates that have been sparked have shone a bright light on a critical issue: the stability and sufficiency of our current electrical grids.

In fact, many areas are already taking positive steps to upgrade their electrical grids for whatever the future may hold. These necessary improvements are driving increased investment in the manufacturing of equipment specifically designed for electrical power generation.

According to a DC Velocity article, “[e]nergy products manufacturer GE Vernova will expand its Pittsburgh manufacturing facility to provide more equipment for the U.S. grid supply chain.” Specifically, “[t]he company will modernize and expand its power transmission manufacturing facility in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, which produces high-voltage circuit breakers, switchgear products, and instrument transformers.”

GE Vernova believes these “upgrades will help to shorten lead times for critical grid components, enabling utilities to connect new energy-intensive demand, including data centers, to the grid more quickly and reliably.”

The company notes that “[t]he expansion is part of a $138 million investment in the Charleroi facility and is expected to create approximately 275 new high-skilled manufacturing jobs including wiring technicians, mechanics, test technicians, logistics coordinators, and supply chain specialists.”

Likewise, a Reuters article by Tim McLaughlin reports that “Heron Power…plans to build a $100 million factory in California to make advanced transformers for the U.S. electric grid.” The new facility will “produce Heron Link, ⁠a 5-megawatt medium-voltage power conversion system for large-scale energy and data-center projects.”

McLaughlin notes that “Heron CEO Drew Baglino…hopes to capitalize on the U.S. power grid’s rapid transformation as booming ​demand from data centers, electric vehicles and heat pumps tests the limits of generation and transmission ‌infrastructure, unprepared ⁠for the electrification of large parts of the economy.”

There’s definitely a disconnect between the current state of most electrical grids and what’s needed for the future: “As U.S. Energy Department officials noted during a March meeting, much of the U.S. grid still relies on 1960s and 1970s engineering and infrastructure…Meanwhile, the power ​industry is ⁠expected to spend $1 trillion over the next decade building new power plants, renewable resources, battery charging facilities and high-voltage transmission lines.”

As municipalities and power generation equipment manufacturers look to the future, it’s clear that workers with advanced electrical skills will be in high demand. How do companies and schools train the next generation of professionals with the electrical skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace? A thorough review of training systems is a great place to start.

Do employees and students have access to hands-on training with actual components they’ll encounter on the job? If not, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure a competent workforce.

Be sure to check out DAC Worldwide’s variety of hands-on electrical training systems that feature the real-world components workers will encounter in the field. For example, companies in the power generation space could benefit from DAC Worldwide trainers focused on the skills their employees need, such as:

• Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000): a realistic training device that replicates the conditions and circumstances that an electrical worker encounters when making common power transformer connections in the field and industry. This self-contained, tabletop training system provides a safe, inexpensive, yet realistic alternative to paper-based learning without the danger of full-voltage field experience.
• Transformer Connections Training System (491-000): replicates the conditions and circumstances that a utility worker encounters when making common transformer connections in the field. Using this trainer, learners will explore the skills that an operator must master to confidently operate modern generating equipment, such as the paralleling of generators and connecting to a larger power grid.
• Electrical Generation Fundamentals Training System (490-000): represents a true simulator depicting multiple power plants on a grid. The unit basically acts as the control center for a generating station and simulates four separate generating units. The system demonstrates the principles of generator operation and represents the relationships that an operator must master to confidently operate generators.

Be sure to check out the links above and contact DAC Worldwide to consult with an expert today!