The most experienced electrical operators and roughneck techs in Wyoming's energy fields can hear a pump belt slipping from 20 feet away.

They can feel a pressure problem through the vibration in their hands. They know, from decades of hard-won experience, exactly which valve to adjust when a generator starts running rough.

Right now, as Wyoming ramps up every sector of its energy industry, many of these seasoned professionals are hitting retirement age.

"There are times you'll go out and talk to a very experienced operator and they hear something and they know exactly what's happening," Hank Tanner told Cowboy State Daily.

As president of Automation & Electronics, a Casper-based electrical contractor that's been operating since 1956, Tanner works alongside all kinds of electricians an

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