DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — Lake Region State College has received a grant award targeted to workforce development in North Dakota’s energy industry.

The $420,176 grant from the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s State Energy Program was awarded to an initiative on which LRSC is collaborating with a company focused on generating renewable energy and battery energy storage, a press release announcing the funds said. LRSC President Doug Darling said the grant will allow the college to expand its renewable energy program.

“Lake Region State College already provides wind energy to its entire campus,” he said. “These funds will enable us to not only add solar energy as a backup power source, but also help create related courses, work-based training and certification opportunities for our students.”

The funds were awarded to the LRSC Devils Lake Solar/Renewable Energy Initiative, which is supported by NextEra Energy Resources. NextEra Energy operates 16 wind projects in North Dakota, the release said, and has additional projects in development. The company is working with local communities and academic leaders through North Dakota to raise awareness of renewable energy careers and to support training opportunities, said James Auld, NextEra Energy’s director of external training initiatives.

“NextEra Energy Resources recognized the critical need for a skilled workforce with a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” he said.

The State Energy Program has been focused on workforce development programs with the type of grant it gave to LRSC, said the program’s manager, Kevin Iverson. It received about $2.6 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in 2021, which is in addition to the program’s annual allocated funds, he said. The program reached out to Williston State College, LRSC, Bismarck State College and the North Dakota State College of Science, all part of the TrainND network that provides employee training, and asked them what they would do with the funds available. The schools sent back proposals and the program decided on funding allocation from there.

“The reason we chose workforce development is because it’s the greatest need in North Dakota,” Iverson said. “If we can direct these funds into energy development programs, we felt this was where we could get the biggest bang for our buck in the state.”

The State Energy Program is part of the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Services, the release said. Its executive director, Maria Effertz, said she’s thrilled to support the partnership between LRSC and NextEra Energy.

“This investment will help advance an all-of-the-above energy position for the state while also developing a valuable training resource for our future workforce,” she said.