Energy Courses

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The Energy cluster uses your interests in helping people and passion for your community to prepare for careers in the energy sector. Energy workers find a rewarding experience in keeping the energy flowing. Responsibilities may include accessing natural resources used as fuel, directly assisting the utility and non-utility generation of power, constructing, operating, and maintaining infrastructures such as power lines, power and pipeline construction, fuel distribution, and the manufacture of electrical transmission equipment such as solar and wind equipment. The cluster also deals with energy efficiency and sustainability.

The hiring of energy efficiency jobs makes up the larger portion of state total energy workers. Job prospects will be good for those employed in transmission, distribution, and energy storage. Electric power generation jobs in solar and traditional fossil fuel generation are in demand. Fossil fuels make up the largest segment of employment-related to fuels; however, alternative power is in high demand.

Energy Career Cluster PDF

Middle School Courses

No Courses at this time

High School Courses

SAMPLE CAREERS
Architects
Civil Engineers
Construction and Building Inspectors
Control and Valve Installers and Repairers
Electrical Engineers
Electrical Power Line Installers and Repairers
Electricians
Electronics Engineers
Facilities Manager
Gas Plant/Refinery Operator, Accountant
Wind Turbine Service Technicians
Communications/Public Relations Specialist
Geologist
Solar Photo-Voltaic Installers

High school certifications, licenses and related college majors:

High School/Industry Certifications	Certificate/License	College Degree Examples
NCCER Electrician Level One		Electrical Engineers
Electronics Assessment		Mechanical Engineers
Core: Introductory Craft Skill Entry Level Assessment

All CTE trade and industry classes offer the Workplace Readiness Skills Test

In Demand Careers

Education Needed	Occupation	Median Salary	Job Growth _{Over next 10 years}	Job Openings _{Projected over next 10 years}
High School Diploma + Certification	Electricians	$56,180 per year	8% (Much faster than average)	62,200
High School Diploma + Certification	Solar Photovoltaic Installers	$44,890 per year	51% (Much faster than average)	6,100
High School Diploma + Certification	Construction and Building Inspectors	$60,710 per year	3% (As fast as average)	3,900
Bachelor’s Degree or more	Electrical and Electronics Engineers	$101,250 per year	3% (As fast as average)	10,800
Bachelor’s Degree or more	Public Relations Specialists	$61,150 per year	7% (Faster than average)	19,700

Student Leadership Organizations

The Technology Student Association (TSA) enhances personal development, leadership, and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), whereby members apply and integrate these concepts through
intra-curricular activities, competitions, and related programs.

SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. We improve the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the
development of SkillsUSA Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in
academics.

Work-Based Learning
Work-Based Learning (WBL) is comprised of experiences related to students’ career interests, based on instructional preparation, and undertaken in partnership with local businesses or organizations. WBL enables students to apply classroom instruction in a real-world work environment. Work-Based Learning promotes Career Awareness, Career Exploration, and Career Preparation.

Career Ambassadors
The Career Ambassador Program offers high school seniors an opportunity to represent and share their experiences with career exploration and our CTE programs to prospective students and community supporters through elementary school Career Fairs, middle school Career Clubs, and district-wide events.

Our guest in this episode is Matt Kellam, Military & Recruitment Program Coordinator, Talent Acquisition for Dominion Power. We talk with Matt about the Virginia Energy Workforce Consortium’s “Energy Workforce Development Pathways” Virtual Summit happening on October 21st. The energy industry in Virginia, and the country, is evolving rapidly and they need new young talent and Matt is working hard with school systems to expose students to careers in the energy industry. It does not matter if you are planning to go to college or not, Dominion Power has openings for high school graduates and those in college. Have a listen to find out about the many opportunities at Dominion Power and the upcoming summit. Anyone can attend or listen online. Click here to listen.

This episode is special because it is the first of a series of episodes related to the new 17th Career Cluster being introduced through the Virginia Department of Education this July. A Career Cluster is a sequence of courses within your area of interest and was created by the U.S. Department of Education. Students. A Career Cluster will connect you with 79 Career Pathways from high school to college and/or career. For more information about Career Clusters follow this link to the Virginia Department of Education.

We are happy to be interviewing Carrie Webster, Energy Manager for Henrico County, Chase Counts, Director of Utility Programs for Community Housing Partners, and KC Bleile, Executive Director of Virdiant. We discussed how their organizations are contributing to the efficiency and sustainability of energy resources in the state of Virginia. Click here to listen.

This podcast episode is our second in a series relating to the new 17th Career Cluster coming from the Virginia Department of Education called “Energy.” In this episode, we have 3 professionals from Dominion Power, Jackie Merrick System Reliability Engineer, Sameera Younus-Kan, Electric Distribution Design, and Matt Kellam, Military & Recruitment Coordinator for Dominion Power. This podcast we are discussing “Energy Transmission, Distribution, and Storage” and how important that students consider important careers in this area of the Energy field. Click here to listen.

This episode is our third in a series relating to the new 17th Career Cluster coming from the Virginia Department of Education called “Energy.” We are talking about Fuel Production and Distribution with, Sasha Furdak-Roy, Operations Center Manager, Northern VA Columbia Gas of Virginia, Dana Willingham, Manager, Technical Training and Training Center Columbia Gas of Virginia, and Greg Meinweiser, ENGINEER II – Nuclear, Dominion Energy. There are so many careers in the energy field today and we hope we are able to inform parents and students of the many opportunities available to young people today. Click here to listen.

This episode is our fourth in a series relating to the new 17th Career Cluster coming from the Virginia Department of Education called “Energy.” In this episode, we are talking about Power Generation and our guests are, Dominika Sink, M&A Associate, Strata Solar, Wafa May Elamin, Executive Director, Virginia Renewable Energy Alliance (VA-REA), Lauren Lopez, SUPV NUCLEAR ENGINEERING, Dominion Energy, and Emily Hughes, Project Manager at EDP Renewables. This was such a great interview and wish we had more time with everybody. Click here to listen.

Energy Career Cluster Promo Video: