Competitive generators are developing the skilled talent needed to deliver reliable electricity now and into the future.
Labor Day is a reminder that every industry runs on people. For America’s power sector, that truth carries particular weight. Behind every megawatt of electricity delivered to homes, hospitals, businesses, and data centers is a workforce of plant operators, electricians, engineers, technicians, cybersecurity professionals, and project teams whose skills keep the lights on.
As rising electricity demand drives a new era of generation investment, the people required to build, operate, and secure that generation must be recognized alongside the financing, supply chain, and permitting issues that typically dominate the conversation.
“America was built on hard work, ingenuity, and the spirit of competition—and Labor Day is a chance to recognize the people who make it happen,” said Todd Snitchler, EPSA President and CEO.
“That’s certainly true in competitive power. Our members put private capital at risk to build and operate the generation America needs, and you can’t do that without skilled workers—from plant and control room operators and technicians to engineers, economists, cybersecurity professionals and the union tradespeople who build and maintain critical infrastructure. Together with lineworkers, system operators and the many others across the grid, they’re the people who keep the lights on, the beer cold and the water warm.”
Powering America, Creating Opportunity
The electric power generation sector is a major American employer, offering strong wages to a workforce pipeline younger and more veteran-heavy than the national average.
- 933,800 – electric power generation workers in the U.S. (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2025)
- $65,430 – median annual wage, 32.2% above the U.S. median (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2025)
- 29% – share of the workforce aged 18–29 (vs. 22% nationally) (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2025)
- 9% – share of veterans in the workforce (nearly double the national average) (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2025)
- $99,670 – median wage for power plant operators, typically requiring only a high school diploma plus on-the-job training (U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2025)
- ~3,400 – annual job openings among power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers expected, driven mainly by retirements (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026)
The challenge ahead requires preparing workers for a grid that looks increasingly different from the one they’re inheriting. New technologies, digitalization, cybersecurity threats, evolving generation resources, and rising electricity demand are changing the skills needed to build, operate, maintain, and secure the grid.
You Can’t Build Power Without People
Rising electricity demand is driving significant interest and investment in new power supply, but financing a project is only the beginning. Turning investment into working megawatts requires highly skilled workers to build, operate, maintain, and secure generation facilities.
Competitive power suppliers are aware of this reality. Constellation recognizes that sustaining power sector growth will require skilled tradespeople and technical personnel. Vistra similarly emphasizes that its business demands a wide variety of specialized skill sets and is actively investing in recruitment, education, and employee development.
The range of pathways into the sector reflects its breadth. Skilled trades, technical and community college programs, military service, and four-year degrees all lead to meaningful careers in power generation.
Competitive Power Suppliers Are Investing in the Workforce
EPSA member companies are responding to these challenges with concrete investments across a range of workforce development strategies.
- Constellation runs scholarship and internship programs connecting students to STEM careers and energy industry mentors, and has developed partnerships focused on building trades and pre-apprenticeship pathways. In 2025, Constellation hired approximately 2,100 new employees and 254 summer interns, including 19 Constellation Scholars. Workforce development continues after employees are hired: Constellation requires cybersecurity awareness training for employees and applicable contractors and provides additional training based on job responsibilities as part of its broader efforts to protect both information technology and operational technology systems.
- Invenergy has invested in technician training and workforce development through structured technical education programs. In 2025, Invenergy opened its Center of Excellence, offering hands-on learning across clean energy technologies.
- LS Power is developing early-career talent through its Co-op Program in partnership with Northeastern University and its Rotational Analyst Program. The programs provide students and recent graduates with hands-on experience and exposure to different functions across the company, helping develop the analytical, commercial, financial, and technical talent needed across the competitive power sector.
- NRG has created military-to-energy career pathways through its Patrol to Power initiative, placing transitioning service members directly into plant and corporate roles, and has partnered with GE Vernova and Kiewit to address the construction labor challenge that large-scale generation buildout creates.
- Shell Energy North America invests in early-career talent through its Assessed Internship and Graduate programs, giving students and recent graduates hands-on experience, mentorship, and opportunities to develop technical and business skills across the energy industry. Shell is helping develop the next generation of competitive energy professionals through Prairie View A&M University’s Energy Trading Program, which combines specialized coursework with industry mentorship and two paid internships. Shell serves on the program’s board, helping students gain hands-on experience in commodity markets, energy technology and systems, and other skills needed for careers in the competitive energy sector.
- Vistra has built college partnerships through its College Partnership Program, internship pipelines and employee training programs designed to develop the specialized skill sets its operations require. Vistra also recently partnered with EPRI as a sponsor for a graduate fellowship that resulted in a new energy curriculum at Penn State that will attract business, engineering, and finance students to the energy field. The company also provides annual cybersecurity training for employees, supplemented by job-specific training and phishing simulations, while participating in industry information-sharing efforts involving NERC, DOE, DHS and the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council.
These examples reflect a broader commitment across the competitive power sector to building the human expertise that reliable electricity depends on.
Investment Alone Is Not Enough
State and federal policymakers must think holistically about what it takes to add and retain generation capacity. Strong, durable competitive market signals give companies the confidence to invest in both infrastructure and people.
Efficient permitting and interconnection processes let projects move from commitment to operation. Workforce development, cybersecurity preparedness, and supply chain resilience determine whether that investment ultimately delivers reliable electricity to consumers.
This Labor Day, the people who build and operate America’s power system deserve recognition — not just for the work they do today, but for the foundation they’re building for the energy future the country needs.
And their stories are worth telling. Throughout September, EPSA will introduce some of the people and workforce initiatives behind competitive power—from the employees keeping generation running every day to the programs preparing the next generation of energy professionals.
