Clean Energy EXPO 2023: Training the Workforce

The 26th Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum was held on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The event was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), with the Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucus serving as honorary co-host. It featured six panels, including Training the Workforce for the 21st Century Clean Energy Economy.

Highlights

Garrett Nilsen, Deputy Director, Solar Energy Technologies Office, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

• In addition to supporting research and development through universities and national labs, the Department of Energy (DOE) is developing outreach and education to support clean energy equipment manufacturers, installers, and power system engineers, as well as other, nontraditional energy workforce positions.
• The DOE is working to bolster the clean energy workforce by creating and disseminating educational and training materials, supporting registered apprenticeships and apprentice readiness programs, working with community colleges and trade schools, increasing access to DOE programs, and supporting displaced energy workers.
• The energy workforce added 300,000 jobs from 2021 to 2022, outpacing the total U.S. workforce growth rate by 0.7 percentage points (3.8 versus 3.1 percent). An estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million jobs are needed by 2035 to reach the Biden-Harris Administration’s electricity decarbonization goals.
• The energy workforce has experienced an influx of women and non-white workers. At the same time, organizations are having difficulty hiring, indicating a continued need to connect people to jobs.
• The DOE requires applicants for Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding to provide community benefits plans for their projects. These plans must include information on the jobs, training, and pay that the projects will provide.

Jason Walsh, Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance (BGA)

• Thoughtful implementation of the IRA and IIJA will result in high-quality, skilled, inclusive jobs with concrete benefits for workers and the communities that need them most.
• The quality of clean energy jobs must improve to be on par with fossil fuel industry jobs. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022, average annual wages for fossil fuel electric power generation jobs are about $96,000, compared to $65,000 for solar electric power generation jobs and $64,000 for wind electric power generation jobs.
• Funding from the IRA, IIJA, and CHIPS and Science Act will flow into manufacturing, construction, and utilities. These sectors have suffered labor shortages, partially due to aging workforces that are also disproportionately white and male. One in four manufacturing workers and one in five construction workers are 55 or older.
• Community benefits plans, sector-focused training partnerships, registered apprenticeship and apprentice readiness programs, wage floors, labor laws, and legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act can all be leveraged to grow the clean energy workforce and bring underrepresented groups into the industry.

Lynn Abramson, President, Clean Energy Business Network (CEBN)

• The Cleantech Funding Database can help small businesses and community leaders within the clean energy technologies sector by demystifying government programs, spotlighting federal investments, facilitating market and tech education and information exchange, and aggregating government resources for business development.
• The IRA authorizes $370 billion for grants, loans, and programs like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, creating strong market signals for small businesses and the private sector.
• The expiration of accelerated tax depreciation under Section 174 of the research and development (R&D) deduction in the tax code has created new barriers for small businesses.
• The DOE’s American-Made Challenges competition and its $30 million MAKE IT prize are impactful and accessible programs that promote and enable domestic manufacturing.

Charles Bolden, Senior Director of Congressional Affairs, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

• In order to diversify the clean energy workforce, it is imperative that we (1) increase access to solar job opportunities and training, and (2) target low-income and minority communities through outreach, internships, fellowships, apprenticeships, and partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
• The current solar workforce is 31 percent female and 69 percent male, 22 percent Hispanic or Latino, one percent American Indian or Alaska Native, nine percent Asian, nine percent Black or African American, one percent Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 73 percent white [the survey treated ethnicity—whether someone identifies as Hispanic or Latino—and race separately].
• The SEIA Online Learning Center provides comprehensive educational programming for companies, clean energy professionals, and people entering the solar and storage industry. The Solar 101 Program provides education resources directly to individual workers, which aids organizations in meeting their workforce and development needs.

Compiled by Georgia Wluka and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.