On September 21, 2009, the DOE issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) for $100 million in funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to support workforce training for the smart grid and electricity transmission sectors. The FOA supports two primary workforce training strategies:
· $35 -$40 million to develop training programs to achieve a national, clean energy smart grid. This funding will be open to a range of applicants, including utilities, colleges and universities, trade schools, and labor organizations.
· $60-$65 million to conduct workforce training programs for new hires and retraining programs for electric utility workers and electrical equipment manufacturers to educate them in smart grid technologies.