Power Plant skills needed more than ever; YSU program holds info session April 12

Nothing makes people think more about electricity than a power outage, and that’s what happened earlier this year across Texas in the wake of an unexpected winter storm.

Daniel Coyne hopes those events also make people think more about electricity as a career.

Coyne is coordinator of Power Plant Technology at Youngstown State University, a two-year program leading to an associate’s degree in Technical Studies and, according to Coyne, numerous well-paying job opportunities.

“I’ve worked most of my adult life as a control operator at a local district energy plant before joining YSU, and can personally say that it’s a great career,” he said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the YSU program is invited to attend an information session 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 12, in Room B100 (bottom floor) of Cushwa Hall on the YSU campus. Coyne will talk about careers and workforce needs of the power generation industry, chemical plants, refineries, natural gas processing and other industries that have hired graduates of the program.

The program, formally called Electrical Utility Technology/Power Plant Technology, prepares graduates to work at power generation stations in “operations” and includes labs at area power plants like the GenOn New Castle station and the NAIS Hickory Run power station, also in Lawrence County, Pa. “The labs give the students a plant floor experience to observe the equipment and processes discussed in lectures,” Coyne said.

While the focus is on electrical power generation, graduates find employment in a wide array of other industries that make and use steam and electricity, such as petroleum refineries, breweries and food processing operations. Coyne said graduates have gone on to jobs with Marathon Oil in Canton, Anheuser Busch in Columbus, Nestles Foods in Solon, Ohio, and Heinz in Pittsburgh. Job opportunities are also available in hospitals, schools and universities, natural gas processing plants, air separation plants, district energy plants. Coyne said the First Energy Grid Dispatch Center in suburban Akron has hired many graduates.

In fact, Coyne said about 90 percent of students find employment within three months of graduation. And those jobs are well paying, i.e. $30 per hour for entry-level power plant control operators.

For more information on the Power Plant Technology program at YSU, visit its website or contact Coyne at dpcoyne@ysu.edu.