Wyoming’s Wind is in Demand, But Does it Have the Workforce?

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming has an abundance of wind but not an abundance of workers trained in wind energy jobs.

Wind capacity in Wyoming would double if all the proposals on the table for new farms are realized. Firms like the Power Company of Wyoming, Viridis Eolia and Rocky Mountain Power are all looking at large-scale development. And they will need workers to build the farms and then to staff them for maintenance.

But towns in areas where the wind farms would be built have few people.

Rob Godby is director of the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming.

Godby says the market will take care of the worker shortage, noting that the oil and gas industry had the same problem.