Quite by coincidence I see strategy+business reports efforts by a different industry than power utilities to wrestle with the aging workfoce problem. S&B report that the serious shortage of skilled workers in the oil industry has forced companies to find innovations, such as “digital oil fields” that gather and analyze data to transform traditionally labor-intensive operations into technology-driven environments.

To understand the origins of this challenge, see the chart below on US graduation rates for petroleum engineers to appreciate the scale and timing of the issue! [thanks to Prof Mukul M. Sharma at University of Texas for this].