1. Preparing Talent for Tomorrow: An Industry Imperative

2. Gulf Power Company: Who Are We?
ACTE Convention - 12/01/2006
Gulf Power Company: Who Are We?
1,365 employees
427,000 customers
6 power plant sites - 3 sites are jointly owned - 2,659 MW capacity
137 substations/ 1,595 miles of transmission lines
7,644 miles of distribution lines (1,754 underground)

3. Southern Company Highlights Infrastructure Employees: 26,421
Average Service: 18 years
Average Age: 45 years
Turnover: 5.1%
Infrastructure
Transmission lines: 27,000 miles
Substations: 3,700
Generation: 42,000 MW

4. 1 in 3 U.S. workers is age 50 or older.
The Challenge
The need for skilled, well-educated workers is growing
“More than 70% of HR executives say that incoming workers with inadequate skills are their most serious problem over the next three years.” – Deloitte Consulting
Demand is up
Supply is down
By 2010 one in three U.S. workers will be age 50 or older
By 2013, 43% of US Labor Force eligible for retirement
In 2015, a 15% decline of ages 35 – 44; demand increases 25%
50% drop in graduating engineers during the past 15 years
Sept. 1, 2002 T&D World
In North Carolina a Progress study found 32% of 9th graders interested in Assoc. Degrees or skilled trade: demand will be 65%
By the year 2050, the US population is projected to grow by almost 50% to 420 million with the greatest growth in non-white groups.
In 2000 whites made up 69% of the US workforce; by 2050 it will be 50% and the percentage of Hispanics and Asians will double its current rate.
Average age of today’s utility employee is 48 -almost 4 years older than the national average
In a 2004 UBEC survey of utility CEOs, 85% indicated a potential lack of skilled workers threatens the company’s ability to meet customer needs.
Carnegie Mellon found the demand for electric line workers will grow by 9% each year with 10,000 new jobs available annually by 2010
Need employees with some post secondary education and more advanced skills but the failure rates on utility pre-employment tests are increasing.
~500 power engineer graduates per year now; ~2000 in 1980’s IEEE
Utility executives estimate at least ½ of the technical workforce will reach retirement age in 5–10 years
1 in 3 U.S. workers is age 50 or older.
By 2015 a 15% decline is projected in ages 35 – 44.

5. The New Economic Development Reality
A skilled workforce has become more important than land and buildings
As layers of middle management have been eliminated, these workplace skills are increasingly required of all employees:
Critical thinking/ Problem-solving
Communication skills
Teamwork
Self-direction
Global, civic, financial, economic & entrepreneurial literacy
INNOVATIVE and CREATIVE thinking!

6. Energy Industry Workforce Challenges
Utility workforce is four years older than national average
– US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Demand for technical and craft workers increasing
Failure rates on pre-employment tests are increasing
Potential threat to both productivity and reliability

7. Gulf Power’s Multi-Prong Approach
Gulf Power Company Programs
Southern Company Efforts
State Efforts
National Efforts
Collaboration is Key!
We approach workforce or talent development in a variety of ways
We’ve been “seriously” working on this for 10 years now.

8. Gulf Power Company Programs
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Promotion
Energy Career Awareness
Energy Career Pipeline Development Programs
Community Workforce Development
The programs that Gulf Power dedicates resources to in our service territory fall in these 4 main categories

9. STEM Promotion Programs
I LOVE Science
BEST and FIRST Robotics
Math in Energy Careers Day
Electrathon Racing
STEMflorida
Of course Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are critical to success in all of our industry careers. We must actively promote this as US students are lagging other countries in these foundational areas of study. Here are the programs we use to raise student interest in the STEM disciplines:
I LOVE Science - Increasing Local Opportunities for Volunteers Enthusiastic about Science
• Started in Focuses on Escambia and Santa Rosa fifth-grade students.
• Provides curriculum, training and materials for volunteers (including about 30 Gulf Power employees) to deliver
hands-on science activities monthly. Demonstrates how science is used in the real world and raises student interest
in science. Goal is to have one community volunteer matched with every 5th grade classroom
BEST Robotics – Boosting Engineering Science and Technology
• Nationwide program started in Local hub at University of West Florida opened in 2007.
• Creates interest in science and technology among middle and high school students through the use of
high-energy, sports-like robotic competitions.
• Gulf Power is a premier sponsor of the local hub, providing financial support and roughly 50 employee volunteers
each year to help run game day and serve as mentors to teams.
provide mentors to FIRST robotics teams at schools in Okaloosa County
Math in Energy Careers Day
Bring 50 high school, community college, and university math teachers/professors to Gulf Power for the day to share how math is used in careers throughout our company/industry
Provides the math teachers with real-world examples they can use in the classroom
Helps us address the challenge of graduates not being able to apply the math they’ve learned in our industry
Electrathon Racing
Sponsored by Gulf Power Engineering Society – provide many team mentors and volunteers to run race day
Held at Five Flags Motor Speedway
High School Teams build and race electric vehicles
STEMflorida
Statewide initiative focused on branding Florida’s STEM careers and raising student interest in and preparedness for these careers
We have representatives on the Business Steering Council for this initiative

10. Career Awareness Programs
Energy Summer Camps
Engineering Explorers Post
Gulf Power Speakers’ Bureau for Career Fairs
Even if students have the STEM fundamentals they need, many students are not aware of the great careers we offer in the energy industry. Many of our careers are “hidden” so students don’t know they are options for them. Through these programs, our goal is to raise awareness of the many careers and career growth opportunities our energy industry – and Gulf Power – offer.
Energy Summer Camps
Week-long camps held at University of West Florida Pensacola campus
Two camps: one for upper elementary and one for middle school students
We design schedule/ activities
Based on NEED (National Energy Education Development Project) materials (
We provide daily instructional support and guest subject matter expert instructors
Engineering Explorers Post
Sponsored by Gulf Power Engineering Society
For upper middle and high school students
Held monthly at various Gulf Power facilities
Raises exposure to and interest in Gulf Power and energy careers
Speakers Bureau for Career Fairs
Trained roughly 75 Gulf Power employees in career awareness presentation so they can assist in career fairs throughout our service territory
We participate in numerous career fairs and career overview presentations from the elementary school level on up through university level

11. Talent Development Pipeline Programs
Once a student’s interest is raised in an energy career, we have to help them become more prepared to enter our careers.
These Talent Development Pipeline Programs do just that – they actively prepare students for entry-level employment in our industry – either following high school graduation or following post-secondary (technical center, community college, or university) completion.
Focus of all programs is to raise PREPAREDNESS for our entry-level careers across the company, with a key focus on entry-level plant, power delivery, and customer service positions following high school and entry-level engineering following college.
These programs all require a long-term commitment on our part to participate in the design of and implementation of the program in a meaningful way and for many years.

12. Gulf Power Academy Class of 2009
Gulf Power Academy, WFHS
Gulf Power Academy Class of 2009
WFHS: West Florida High School of Advanced Technology – located in Pensacola – is a comprehensive high school that students have to apply to enter then get selected from a lottery (over 1000 students apply every year for the roughly 340 openings)
Graduated first class in May, 2005:
2005 – 2009 (graduating classes):
Test qualified on EEI pre-employment – 99%
Hired - 21% (6 – 11 each year depending upon needs)
Went on to college - 48%
Military - 5%
Other occupation - 26%
Gulf Power Academy seniors have significantly higher success rates on industry pre-employment tests than non-program job candidates
Prepares students for work AND college – 50% go on to pursue 4 year degrees, primarily in engineering
Creates a love of learning that continues after they are employed with us through our tuition reimbursement program
Earned premier “distinguished” rating when evaluated against national small learning community standards in 2007
First major partnership to develop qualified, applicant pool opened August, 2001

13. Gulf Power Partnership Includes:
$25,000 per year donation to WFHS
Guidance, support & instructional assistance in the Gulf Power Academy (Program Advisory Council)
Serve on School Advisory Council
Support of entire school through participation in Career Days, Open House, publicity events
No commitment to hire students at end of program - no commitment for students to work for us

14. Gulf Power Academy Key Components
Academic rigor plus “hands-on” experience, based on NCCER Electrical Curriculum
Mentoring Program Junior Year
Advanced Career Experience (ACE) program Senior Year
Over 50 % go on to college, utilizing 15 hours of articulated credit from the program
We provide guest instructors, employee mentors, and work experiences – full engagement!
Students are prepared for work AND college

15. Gulf Power Academy Mentoring Program
12th Grade students matched with Gulf Power Employee (consideration given to job responsibilities/ experience, & individual characteristics)
Provides students direction, guidance, and a direct link to one Gulf Power employee
Provides Gulf Power an opportunity to make a determination about each student’s employability
One Mentor Day per month scheduled
Additional interaction outside of Mentor Days based on individual relationship
Mentors do not transport mentees first semester
Parents are invited to Mentor Program Kick-Off Dinner at Gulf Power to meet mentors and understand program

16. Advanced Career Experience (ACE)
Host 17 – 25 senior students each year, from GPA, Pre-engineering, Cox, and AOIT (this year: 20 ACE students)
Students come to Gulf Power to learn & work instead of going to school every other day
If successful on our industry pre-employment tests 1st semester, students are paid while learning/working 2nd semester
Cox is the Cox Telecommunications Academy (similar curriculum content to ours)
AOIT is the Academies of Information Technology where students are preparing for IT careers

17. Advanced Career Experience (ACE)
Second semester - OJT in jobs of student’s choice
Plant
Meter Shop
Line Crews
Customer Service
Engineering
Substation
Accounting
Information Technology
Carried out under Partial Waiver to Hazardous Occupations Section of Child Labor Laws with tremendous focus on Safety!
Each student receives individualized
schedule rotating them through positions of interest to them…

18. Gulf Power Academy Results
Gulf Power Academy seniors have significantly higher success rates on industry pre-employment tests than non-program job candidates
Prepares students for work AND college – 50% go on to pursue 4 year degrees, primarily in engineering
Have hired 6 – 11 each year into entry-level careers at Gulf Power Company (since first graduating class in May of 2005)
Hire into entry-level positions in power plants, power delivery, and customer service
Though this is our “flagship” program, we also have replicated at two other schools in our service territory (Locklin Tech in Milton and Laurel Hill School in northern Okaloosa county)

19. Community Workforce Development
Every Child a Reader in Escambia (ECARE)
Founding member of community collaborative focused on emergent literacy
Goal is to have every student who enters kindergarten test “ready” when they begin
Ford Next Generation Learning Community Program for ECSD & SRCSD
Founding member of community collaborative to increase numbers and quality of career academies in our area
In addition to the programs we support that are focused just on Gulf Power company careers, we also support community initiatives designed to increase the overall talent supply in our region
This sums up the Gulf Power programs – we’ll now move onto how we approach talent development at the Southern Company level

20. Southern Company Efforts
Southern Company Workforce Development Council
Includes representative from each operating company
Allows us to leverage our work
Three key focus areas:
Programs (Career Awareness)
Pipelines (Talent Development)
Partnerships (Collaborations)
Coordination at the Southern Company Level allows us to leverage our resources across Southern Company, and have one voice for Workforce Development
We focus in on the same key areas –
Career Awareness Programs
Talent Development Pipelines
Internal and External Collaborations
Has allowed us to beg, borrow, and steal from each other and create so much more than we could if we only worked within our operating companies

21. Southern Company 2009 Summary
PROGRAMS (Career Awareness):
New “Power Up” career awareness/branding campaign
Employee “Career Awareness Teams”
Seven summer energy camps
Two “On the Job” Television shows – “Women in Non-Traditional Roles” and “Careers at Southern Nuclear”
Outreach to over 12,000 students and educators through Southern Company’s various career awareness activities and events
PIPELINES (Talent):
11 Talent Pipeline programs
Hired 18 students (138 from ’05-present) from Intern Programs
Hired 25 students (156 from ‘05-present) from Talent Pipeline programs
Created partnerships with four additional technical colleges for future Talent Pipelines
Created a comprehensive workforce development plan for Southern Nuclear
This is an inventory of Southern Company level workforce development results for 2009
Point is just to show that we roll this up to the overall holding company level and coordinate efforts throughout
Partnerships (External Strategic):
CEWD ongoing support and participation on Executive and Education Councils
Leadership for state Energy and Industrial Construction Consortia
Partnered with Federal, State and Local Workforce Development entities on funding and pipeline development opportunities resulting in over $10 million dollars in secured federal grant funding for energy and/or construction job training
Leadership on industry specific organizations (i.e., SEMTA, NEI, CGIA, ACRI)

22. Southern Company High School Materials
This is our Southern Company developed high school recruiting materials we all created together and all utilize in each of our states
-sent packet of posters, brochures, and cards to 85 NW Florida schools
Allows us to brand our careers throughout the Southeast

23. Southern Company Military Branding Campaign
This is our Southern Company military branding campaign we all use
In addition to recruiting students, we actively recruit out of the military and mid-career transition folks.
This wraps up the overview of the Southern Company efforts.
Now let’s talk about what we’re doing with other energy companies in our state 12 23

24. Florida Energy Workforce Consortium (FEWC)
Industry Chair, Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power Company
Years ago we realized that there is so much more that we as an industry in our state could do together than we could each do alone as individual companies
So, we formed the first state energy workforce consortium and developed this brand above to brand Florida’s energy careers

25. FEWC
First state consortium to form in April 2006 to identify and develop solutions to meet the current and future workforce needs of utilities in Florida – now over 60 members
Comprised of utility representatives, contractors, contractor associations, state and local secondary and post-secondary education representatives, state and local workforce system representatives, IBEW, and building trades
Focus is to leverage our activities across the state – together we can accomplish so much more for our industry than we could individually
Though we were the first, we have helped create others. There are now over 22 state energy workforce consortiums, including one in all of our other Southern Company states – Georgia, AL and MS.
Key results:
Creation of an Employ Florida Banner Centers for Energy and Alternative Energy for post-secondary curriculum leadership (with state workforce funding)
Secured $1.5M of state workforce funding for industry in rural areas and $13M+ from ARRA funds
Career awareness and outreach presence at numerous events
Get into Energy Florida! student branding competition
Compete for a talent PUDDLE OR work to create a talent POOL

26. FEWC website: www.fewc.org
FEWC Recent Accomplishments:
Wrote new Florida Department of Education Energy Curriculum Frameworks to match industry needs
Had “Energy” added as 17th career cluster in Florida
Secured $13M+ from ARRA funds and $1.5M of state workforce funding for Florida energy workforce development programs
FEWC website:
continue to visit and replicate through regional partnerships successful energy workforce development secondary and post-secondary programs
All of the state consortia get support from our national organization, Center for Energy Workforce Development

27. Industry Solutions – Regional Implementation
National Solution
First partnership between utilities and their associations – EEI, AGA, NEI and NRECA to focus solely on these issues
Utilities, associations and supplemental labor contractors join as members
Partnering with educational institutions, workforce system, and unions to create workable solutions
Industry Solutions – Regional Implementation
Southern Company was one of the founding organizations of this group
Is housed in EEI
CEWD has a single focus – meeting tomorrow’s energy workforce needs.
Incorporated in March, 2006

28. This is the landing page to our national branding site www
This is the landing page to our national branding site

29. State Energy Workforce ConsortiaWA MN OR CT MI PA IA NJ OH IN MD VA CA CO MO KY NC TN SC
CEWD has helped to replicate our Florida Energy Workforce Consortia into all these other states
CEWD has proven to be a great national resource for our industry to move our talent development initiatives forward at a national scale AZ GA MS AL TX LA FL
Existing Consortium
Planned Consortium

30. Key Takeaways… STEM is our future!
Students must have opportunities to learn about/ experience potential careers BEFORE deciding what to do following high school
Rigor and relevance are an option and requirement for ALL students to be successful

31. Questions