Hydropower Foundation (HRF)

Grant programs: stem education grant - the Foundation is currently working under a doe grant in support of the national renewable energy laboratory to educate students about Hydropower, its benefits as an energy source, and the wide variety of career opportunities within the industry. The program has worked with secondary education teachers, universities, and college professors around the country to produce source materials as they build their curriculums on Hydropower as part of their clean energy programs. The Foundation, as part of this grant, has also supported the development of an education electronic portal that was launched in 2020 and we continue to add content. We also support the Hydropower collegiate competition (hcc) helping to prepare students in their presentations, doing webinars to educate them about various aspects of Hydropower and informing them about the job opportunities that lie within the industry. The Foundation also is supported by a grant from doe as a subcontractor of the pacific northwest national laboratory. That grant program is working to update the Hydropower vision, which was first done in 2016. Our work is to conduct outreach to industry and let them know about the updated version.

Hiring for hydro is a program sponsored by the northwest Hydropower association, which brings students to their annual conference where they have an immersion into Hydropower through a Hydropower 101 class, work on their resumes, and meet one-on-one with hydro operators and other members of the industry for potential jobs. The nwha has sponsored the hiring for hydro program for several years. We did another in 2023 where we had 15 student participants who met with industry about potential job openings and learned about internship programs. The program was most successful and the nwha has agreed to sponsor another event in early 2024. In addition, we hosted another version of hiring for hydro, the clean energy expo, in conjunction with the national Hydropower association meeting in cincinnati in october of 2023. The difference between the two events is that hiring for hydro is done at the industry meeting and the clean energy expo is hosted at the university. That event had 15 industry organizations with about 25 students who participated. Another is planned for 2024 at clean currents in portland Oregon.

Think tank is an undergraduate research symposium at which students solve real-world Hydropower challenges. The first was launched in 2018 in the southeast, with plans to move the program around the country in the succeeding years. Due to covid restrictions, we placed the think tank on hiatus for 2021 and 2022. In 2023 we hosted another think tank sponsored by southern company in Alabama. It had 12 student participants who learned about Hydropower, toured the facility, and worked on a real-life problem for southern company. Tva observed the meeting and has committed to sponsor a think tank in 2025. We also have one planned in the nw at chelan county pud for 2024.