Meet a 28-year-old working one of America's fastest-growing jobs that lets him travel on the company's dime and be part of the nation's shift to green energy

 

Meet a 28-year-old working one of America's fastest-growing jobs that lets him travel on the company's dime and be part of the nation's shift to green energy (msn.com)

Meet a 28-year-old working one of America's fastest-growing jobs that lets him travel on the company's dime and be part of the n

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Meet a 28-year-old working one of America's fastest-growing jobs that lets him travel on the company's dime and be part of the nation's shift to green energy

insider@insider.com (Madison Hoff) - Yesterday 4:20 a.m.

 

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• Ken was working at Costco when he decided to go back to community college to become a wind turbine tech.
• He now makes $27 an hour and gets to visit places all over the US and Canada.
• Wind turbine service technician is one of the fastest-growing jobs in the US.

Ken was in his early twenties and working a job at Costco when he decided to go back to community college.

"I was not happy with my position and I wanted more in life," said the 28-year-old, whose last name and current employer are withheld for privacy but known to Insider. 

After reading an article about how a wind turbine technician job didn't require much schooling, he was intrigued. An associate's degree in electro-mechanical technology helped him land a job in the field. It's one of the fastest-growing jobs in the US, and employment in the role was projected to grow 68.2% from 6,900 in 2020 to 11,700 in 2030.

 

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The Democrats' new climate and tax bill will invest billions in clean energy. Here are 21 high-paying green careers for people who want to save the planet.

• There are many occupations out there that help the environment, such as wind turbine service technician.
• The Inflation Reduction Act could mean more clean energy jobs created.
• Here are the 21 fastest-growing green jobs that also have an annual pay greater than the overall median pay.

Saving the earth and having a lucrative career aren't always mutually exclusive, and the Democrats' big climate and tax bill that just passed could mean even more investment in green jobs.

The Inflation Reduction Act could mean many more workers will be needed to fill various clean energy and other jobs in the coming years. The bill also says it will cut carbon emissions by about 40% by 2030.

"The Inflation Reduction Act builds a new clean energy manufacturing economy by investing in refurbishing old factories; building new factories; requiring high wages; and mandating apprenticeship training for companies using clean energy tax credits," The Center for American Progress wrote in a fact sheet. "The bill will spur domestic production of batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and more, setting the United States up to compete in the global clean energy economy and creating millions of clean energy jobs." 

AFL-CIO staff wrote that there will be "an especially big boost to manufacturing." According to Energy Innovation, 1.4 million to 1.5 million jobs in 2030 could be made as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act. According to research from the Political Economy Research Institute, there will be almost 1 million jobs created a year or more than 9 million over the decade as a result. Most of these millions of jobs created would come from grants, loans, and tax credits, according to BlueGreen Alliance who commissioned that analysis.

Per reporting from Axios, Philip Jordan, vice president of BW Research, said equipment installation and construction will see the biggest job gains. 

"Green" jobs can lead to lofty incomes. For instance, construction managers typically make $98,890, according to median annual wage data for May 2021.

Additionally, projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show wind turbine service technician is the fastest-growing job in the country after "excluding occupations with above average cyclical recovery," according to projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This occupation is estimated to grow by 68.2% between 2020 and 2030. Solar photovoltaic installers is also the third fastest-growing job — after excluding jobs with "above average cyclical recovery" — with projected employment growth of 52.1% from 2020 to 2030.

Insider looked at different green jobs that are projected to quickly grow and that pay well. To find the 21 fastest-growing green jobs that also pay well, we looked at employment projections from BLS for jobs that are considered green jobs on the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). We only included occupations that had median annual pay above the overall national median of $45,760 as reported by BLS for May 2021.

We also included how much they pay from the BLS' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, along with green economy sectors from online database O*NET.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Ken grew up in a small town in Washington, but is now "able to actually see the rest of the country." He did onboarding training in New Mexico and has since worked on sites in Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as Ontario, Canada.

Traveling to various work sites means Ken gets paid a per diem for lodging and food. After two years on the job, he recently received a promotion and raise from $24 to $27 dollars an hour. Between his hourly rate, excess per diem, and overtime, he takes home roughly $60,000 per year, according to documents viewed by Insider.

"One of the reasons why I wanted to get into not just wind turbines but also power generation as a career path is because I see our world in the light that it is, and that we will always, always need electricity, and where that electricity comes from will change as our society changes," he said.

Traveling the country and meeting new people for work

A work day for Ken is typically from 7 am to 3 pm, which is similar to what another wind tech previously told Insider's Dominick Reuter.

 

 

"On a great day you usually get done about 3 or 4 pm," Andrew Slate told Reuter. "On a really bad day you may be there 'till 11 o'clock at night — you may have to work 18 hours straight."

Ken's duties range from site support to routine maintenance, such as replacing oil filters or measuring torque and tightening structural bolts. His job as a technician also includes electrical and mechanical troubleshooting, which includes replacing components that have been broken.

However, Ken said the work isn't continuous throughout the year. Given, he sees slow months, he tries to save as much money as he can while working. He also tries to work six weeks and then take one week off from traveling to be at home. Beyond being able to travel, one positive of his work is that Ken gets to meet new people.

"Working at the same place, seeing the same faces day in and day out can get a little, I guess you could say monotonous — at least for me," he said.

Ken also enjoys being able to split work and life.

"Because when I'm home, like my mind, my body, my soul is home and wants nothing to do with work," Ken said. "And then when I'm off staying at a hotel or motel and I'm working, I'm a hundred percent into work."

The job, according to Ken, isn't for everyone. It "definitely requires a certain mindset that is conducive to being away from your family for extended amounts of time," he said.

One negative for Ken includes sometimes staying at "bottom of the barrel" places as he tries to maximize his per diem amount so he can pocket what's left over.

Going to work means having to figure out where to stay — and sometimes he doesn't even know how long he will be at a site. Ken has to find lodging himself, which are typically motels, hotels, and Airbnbs that allow for long-term renters. He said some technicians prefer to stay in an RV. Sometimes, he said, technicians will all stay at the same hotel and carpool together.

 

Working hundreds of feet off the ground

Ken, who loves heights, says one exciting part of work is being in the hub of the tower, a "relatively small" space which he says is the nose cone between the blades of the wind turbine. He enjoys standing on the hub, between the blades and looking out to see the view, while being hundreds of feet from the ground.

"I can work at the top of the tower on all the major components in there, and I can work at the bottom of the tower [on] all the major components and electrical cabinets in there," he said.

 

Courtesy of Ken© Courtesy of Ken

 

In one state, he did inspections at what's called a laydown yard where "all the turbine components, all the blades, all the major tower sections, the generators were essentially disassembled and spread out on this empty lot."

"And they'd been sitting there for five years and one of my jobs was to go through and inspect and take pictures and document all of it," he said.

In another, he worked as LOTO supervisor or Lockout/Tagout where he would go to the electrical panel of the tower and put a lock on it after flipping the switch, add a tag and his name and number to "essentially lock that panel from being accessed by anyone else" to keep people safe.

Working with electricity and being so far off the ground can be dangerous. As Insider's Reuter reported, wind turbine service technician is actually one of the most dangerous jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, says it has one "of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations." 

Considering the danger, Ken said in an interview before his raise that he wishes his hourly rate was higher, but that the per diem for traveling makes up the difference. 

Overall, Ken is proud of the position.

"We are as a society trying to move away from coal and oil for our power generation, and being able to be a part of that kind of movement and being part of the solution is definitely a proud moment for me," he said.

He said with this job he has "officially started" his career.

"Working at Costco was a great job," he said. "However, working as a wind technician is a career move."

Read the original article on Business Insider

 

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