The Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE) and the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) share a similar mission: ensuring the current and next generation of energy employees are ready for the energy industry of today and tomorrow. EPCE is proud to celebrate CEWD’s Careers in Energy Week 2025 by highlighting how EPCE’s online education programs have helped individuals enter into, or advance in, rewarding careers in the energy industry.
Attained: A.A.S. in nuclear power technology through Bismarck State College
Despite a background of varied experiences, from being an infantryman in the army to working in the banking industry, John still hadn’t found quite what he was looking for until he started a career in nuclear power. Wanting to get his foot in the door, John started in the nuclear security department. "I knew I needed to do something because I had absolutely no background in power plants or nuclear power. I had to give them a reason to want to hire me into the nuclear operations department."
John was able to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement program through Palo Verde, and started on his degree while continuing to work in the nuclear security department. He applied for an auxiliary non-licensed operator position with Palo Verde and was even accepted into the program a few months prior to his graduation: "If I hadn’t obtained my NUPT degree, I don’t know if I would have been accepted for my position." John noted.
Attained: A.A.S. in electric power technology through Bismarck State College
For Paige, a career in the energy industry is a family affair. Her father was a lineman for 40 years, and Paige was interested in also pursuing a career in energy. Paige joked, “I wish I’d known about the Bismarck State program sooner, I wouldn’t have gotten my bachelor’s degree; I would have just gone straight to this program.”
Shortly after she started the program, she interviewed for a position as an assistant engineer I with Minnesota Power. She credits the knowledge she had gained in just a few short classes to give her the confidence she needed to be able to answer a lot of the questions she was asked during the interview process, which helped her to get the job offer: “It definitely helped me better understand the energy field and provided me with a great foundational overview that helped me when I was doing my on-the-job training.”
After graduating, Paige was promoted to her current title of assistant engineer II shortly after, where she designs power lines, both overhead and underground, as well as prepares work orders for linemen, which can include tasks like preparing equipment lists, permits, and mapping. She has her eyes on future advancement as well. "After five years of experience, I have the opportunity to advance to an AE senior position, and I could look at advancing to a designer as well in the future.”
Attained: B.S. in nuclear engineering technology through Excelsior University, master’s in power systems engineering through Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Dustin began as a technician in the maintenance department at one electric cooperative, but his motivation and hard work, including pursuing additional education, led to multiple work promotions. He noted: “I was eager to pursue my goal of becoming a PE, which cannot happen without an ABET-accredited engineering degree, so I enrolled in Excelsior University’s online bachelor’s in electrical engineering technology program.”
Dustin credits the knowledge he gained at Excelsior to help prepare him for the NCEES exams, saying: “If there are any electricians out there that want to become a licensed engineer, the coursework from this bachelor’s degree will cover nearly every aspect of what is tested on the NCEES FE and PE exams. I was intimidated to take both tests, but both times before I finished, I knew in my head I was going to pass because of the class work I had completed at Excelsior.”
In March of 2024, Dustin accepted the position of system protection engineer at Pedernales Electric Cooperative, where he is responsible for all aspects of protection and controls for transmission lines, transmission substations, capacitor banks, distribution stations, power transformers, and distribution feeders.
He still wasn’t done with furthering his education. “I found WPI’s online graduate programs through the EPCE website and saw WPI offered what I wanted in a graduate degree and the classes would actually help me as an engineer in the power systems career field,” he said.
He graduated with his master’s in power systems engineering in May 2025, and has already seen a benefit to the knowledge he gained, noting: “I’ve had the opportunity to get hands on engineering design experience at my job while at the same time having my online courses cover the same topics as what I’m doing at work. I believe WPI has some of the best online power system engineering courses available anywhere”
These are just a few of the countless success stories from EPCE graduates. EPCE’s vast online education and training programs can help you take the next step as well. Learn more about EPCE’s online offerings today!