FPL offers 13 scholarships for Seminole County students in energy fields

Thirteen FPL scholarships are aimed at Seminole County students who want into the power grid, the job site and the solar field, a pipeline that can lead to some of Central Florida’s stronger-paying skilled jobs. Florida Power & Light says the awards are meant to build a skilled and diverse workforce, and Kate Cotner, FPL’s director of community engagement, said, "At FPL, we believe that investing in students is investing in Florida."

Applications opened April 27 and close May 25 at 3 p.m. EST, with winners scheduled to be announced June 13. The package includes 10 NextEra Energy Scholarships for students in SECME, plus three new workforce development scholarships: the FPL Trade and Technical Program, the FPL Workforce Ready Undergraduate Program and the FPL Workforce Ready Associates Program.

For the Seminole County students who qualify, the SECME awards are the most generous. FPL says they are open to graduating high school seniors in its service area who have at least one year of SECME experience, and Seminole County is one of the 10 counties named. Each award is worth $5,000 a year and can be renewed for up to three years, for as much as $20,000 total.

The three workforce-development scholarships broaden the path beyond high school seniors. They are open to students enrolled full-time at an accredited Florida college, university or technical school in FPL’s service territory, which means the money can support training for jobs such as electricians, solar installers, HVAC technicians and power-line workers, along with engineering-related careers that keep the energy system running.

That matters in Seminole County because Central Florida’s labor market is still expanding, especially in construction and skilled technical work. In the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put average hourly pay for all jobs at $28.95 in May 2024, with construction and extraction averaging $25.92 an hour and installation, maintenance and repair averaging $27.05. Nationally, solar photovoltaic installers had a median wage of $51,860 and projected job growth of 42% from 2024 to 2034, HVAC mechanics and installers had a median wage of $59,810, and electrical power-line installers and repairers had a median wage of $92,560. Seminole County’s economic development office says Metro Orlando remains among the nation’s fastest-growing population and employment markets, a sign that this scholarship pipeline fits the region’s employer demand better than a generic college aid program would.