Aging Workforce, Environmental Regulation Concern Participants in Electric Reliability Survey
An aging workforce and lack of skilled workers topped the list of concerns of utility users, owners and operators, according to a new survey.
An aging workforce and lack of skilled workers topped the list of concerns of utility users, owners and operators, according to a new survey.
The North American Reliability Corporation’s (NERC)
Reliability Issue Survey identifies and ranks factors that electrical power industry executives and professionals perceive may negatively impact reliability.
Survey participants were asked to rank seven potential business circumstances, based on their belief if the circumstance had a high, medium, or low likelihood of occurrence, and then the severity of impact for each.
Within the category of business issues, survey participants ranked first, at 67 percent, a high likelihood that there would be a reliability risk due to the occurrence of an aging workforce and lack of skilled workers, with 51 percent of respondents assigning it at a high severity level.
Participants also noted that there was a high likelihood that environmental regulation could impact electric reliability at 55 percent, with a 26 percent high severity ranking, and 48 percent medium severity ranking.
Within the category of technical issues, survey participants ranked first, at 65 percent, a high likelihood that there would be a reliability risk due to the aging infrastructure and limited new construction, with 53 percent assigning it at a high severity level.
Fifty-one percent of respondents believe the electric power industry is prepared to respond to catastrophic threats, while 49 percent believe the industry is not prepared.
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