What If All Coal Workers Were Retrained to Work in Solar?

This is the worst year in decades for U.S. coal. In the first six months of 2016, coal production plummeted 28 percent compared to the same time in 2015. Over the past five years, U.S. coal production has declined by 500 million tons per year (the equivalent of five million coal-carrying train cars not traveling around the world). The world’s largest private-sector coal company, Peabody Energy, just declared bankruptcy this past April.

It’s a huge decline from the coal-burning peak of 2008 and while many environmentalists are celebrating, the dramatic change has cost many coal workers their jobs and put an obvious strain on coal communities. It’s clear that something needs to be done about the tens of thousands of people who no longer have their coal jobs… but what?

From Burning Coal to Fixing the Ozone Hole

Out of all the other energy sectors, the solar industry is the only one growing rapidly--and it’s hiring. In the first quarter of 2016, American solar drove the majority of new power generation, and it’s currently bringing in new workers 12 times faster than the overall economy.

These kinds of numbers, compared to coal’s dismal data, cannot be ignored, and scientists at Oregon State University decided to look into it. In a study published in Energy Economics, Joshua M. Pearce and Edward Louie decided to quantify the costs and benefits of retraining coal workers to become solar workers.

Their results were interesting: by determining the closest equivalent solar position and salary for each coal position, they found that on the whole, many coal workers could expect an increase in salary, no matter the level of retraining they would need.

Operations engineers, for instance, could expect around a 10% salary increase and would need little retraining. Coal explosive workers, ordnance handlers, and blasters, with their sophisticated safety experience, could become commercial solar technicians with additional training, and earn 11% more on average. Even the lowest skilled coal jobs, such as janitors, could increase their salaries by 7% by becoming low-skilled mechanical assemblers in the solar industry.

Of course, that kind of retraining isn’t free, especially not for the more advanced solar jobs that call for more extensive training. For now, however, the study provides a good suggestion for those who are looking to get out of coal work or those who were forced to leave.

Another benefit is that health challenges such as black lung and atmospheric pollution would be mitigated or completely eliminated.

Although there are still many more steps to be taken until the coal mines are left completely, it’s clear that it will happen soon enough. Are you ready to leave your coal energy sector? Are you interested in learning more about solar? Call us at 407.331.9077 or find us online! We would love to talk to you about your solar solution.