Renewable Energy = Economic Development and Jobs

Today you can as easily drive by a field of wind generators or solar panels than one of waving grain. When you think about renewable energy, you may reference cleaner air or less fossil fuel use. What may not be top of mind is how important solar, wind and other renewables are to the overall U.S. economy and job creation.

Renewable energy policies drive the nation’s $200+ billion market* for wind, solar and other renewable energy sources and promote economic development. Twenty-nine states, Washington, D.C. and three territories have adopted renewable energy renewable portfolio standards requiring utilities to sell a specified amount of renewable electricity each year and have additional aggressive renewable energy targets. Many multinational companies such as Unilever, Apple, Microsoft are entirely dependent on renewables for their energy needs.

The renewable energy industry currently supports thousands of jobs in the U.S. For instance, the National Solar Jobs Census for 2016 shows the solar industry employed more than 260,000 people in solar installation, manufacturing, and sales. The wind energy industry directly employed over 100,000 full-time equivalent employees in manufacturing, project development, construction, and turbine installation, maintenance, and other jobs, as reported by the American Wind Energy Association. There are also indirect jobs and spin-off benefits from increased household and business incomes. Compared to fossil fuel technologies that are typically mechanized and capital intensive, renewable energy technologies are more labor intensive. On average, more jobs are created for each unit of electricity from renewable energy than fossil fuels.

Look what’s happening on the ground in Illinois, a state to watch in how to support rapid growth in an industry with adequate training and good policies. Lawmakers and regulatory officials are creating smart renewable energy policies that will unleash market forces to create good jobs, create an attractive investment destination, and give an overall kick to the state economy in general and the construction industry in particular. To maintain these current and upcoming job opportunities, they are providing programs to prepare workers.

With the passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) in Illinois last December the need for trained workers will soon explode in the state and, according to an Environmental Defense Fund Analysis, will eventually lead to $12 to $15 billion in additional energy investment. With FEJA, Solar Energy Credits (SRECS), and other incentives, industry insiders and observers expect exponential growth in renewable energy installations to begin in 2018 and continue for a long time. The Renewable Portfolio Standards in Illinois can again move rapidly toward 25% of renewable energy by 2025.

“These provisions set the stage to build enough solar and wind to power one million homes,” says one insider. There are many large-scale projects already in the works on commercial properties, community solar, and distribution generation projects ranging from 2 MW to 50 MW. One electrical contractor alone has projects totaling 200 MW. This places Illinois in position to add tens of thousands of jobs.

Even with renewable energy out of the equation, the construction industry in Illinois is projected to expand by 12.4 percent in the next decade, adding over 25,000 jobs. To keep up with that growth, construction employment will grow “at twice the pace of the overall state economy” according to a 2016 University of Illinois report by Robert Bruno, PhD and Frank Manzo IV, MPP.

Let’s look at the key realities of the construction industry anywhere. Workers want jobs and the developer or builder of a project wants efficient, reliable, safety-minded workers. The project must be done on time and on budget. To get those things right, architects, developers, and builders will say, you must have the right training.

That is the goal of the ongoing apprenticeship programs in Illinois. Here 99.2 % of all privately-funded apprenticeship expenditures are funded by joint labor-management apprenticeship programs. In other words, almost 100% of apprentices in Illinois are trained by the unions. Specifically, there are electrical apprenticeship programs in development for renewable energy installations, related to construction, operation, and maintenance. Illinois is a model of preparation and training for the changing needs in an industry.

“The truth is,” says Brian Haug, director at Continental Electric and president of the Illinois Solar Energy Association, “We need to ramp up our resources. In Illinois, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 and contractors in NECA (National Association of Electrical Contractors Association) are prepared to develop solar installations of any substantial size.”

Many businesses and commercial properties are now preparing to utilize renewable energy on their buildings and property. Manufacturers are also jumping on board. One large manufacturer in Chicagoland has signed on for an installation of 3.5 MW solar. The electricians on these projects and many others have been and will be trained by the IBEW/NECA Technical Institute’s solar and wind training and in the future by their focused renewable energy apprenticeship programs.

In the past few years the IBEW/NECA Technical Institute has included renewable energy training in their five-year electrician training program. They are now developing a two-year apprenticeship program ** focused in renewable energy – solar, wind, electric vehicle, and battery storage. After one week of full time classroom learning, they will begin work as an apprentice with an experienced contractor doing site assessments, installations, troubleshooting and other key elements. Their schooling will prepare any worker, if they choose, for a certification through the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, the “gold standard” of energy worker qualification.

In addition, the IBEW is developing a pre-apprenticeship program, a starter program of sorts, in selected Illinois community colleges and high schools in diverse neighborhoods throughout the state. The IBEW 134 will work with local IBEW unions to develop the program in the selected high schools. This pre-apprenticeship program will require 50 to 55 hours in the classroom training with 16 hours of hands-on training. They hope that after this pre-training they will continue with their local IBEW to receive full apprenticeship training.

Additionally, it may surprise some to discover that solar and wind education starts earlier than high school with the Illinois Solar Schools K-12 program, now in 400 Illinois schools. With funding from Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, schools install 1 kW solar arrays and 1-5 kW wind turbines on school buildings and other educational facilities turning them into hands-on science learning for students.

IBEW/NECA along with the Clean Energy Foundation trains teachers in renewable energy technology education, installation, and repairs. The IBEW/NECA Technical Institute hosts regular classroom and hands-on teacher trainings at their Renewable Energy Training Field in Alsip, Illinois. IBEW and NECA also helps to install, maintain, and improve the solar arrays and wind turbines in the schools.

“We are hoping that the solar schools programs will educate the students on the very basic renewable energy concepts and they grow up and expand their knowledge on these concepts.” Harry Ohde, the renewable energy coordinator for the IBEW Local 134 said in a 2017 Midwest Energy News article. “Renewable energy is not just the future but it is now and we have to have a workforce ready for this industry.”

In the same article, Glen Kizer, the field representative for the Illinois Solar Schools Program, noted that solar is a good topic for STEM education and helps to inspire and prepare students for clean energy jobs. “The more people understand the technology, the more likely they are to understand and want to get hired in these particular industries,” he said….”if you really want to work in solar or wind, there’s a good chance you can get a job, anywhere in the U.S.”

The staff of twelve municipalities and four counties in the Chicago region are also trained to meet the renewable energy industry head on. These communities are participants in SolSmart, a rigorous national program that helps communities streamline government processes and implement measures to encourage solar development. These local governments are working with partners such as the IBEW Local 134 as well as the Illinois Fire Inspector Association to train staff to evaluate and inspect solar PV installations. For example, municipal and county staff have adapted a streamlined solar photovoltaic (PV) permit template. As this standard permit is already aligned with national standards, codes and best practices, it can ease the administrative burden for developers of small-scale residential solar PV systems and increase efficiencies in the permitting process for staff. Also, each local government receives expert review and recommendations on how to adapt zoning codes to remove barriers to solar development.

SolSmart is a national program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative and led by The Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, a membership organization of the Chicago region’s 275 cities and villages and a leader in the field of municipal sustainability, served as the program advisor to each government.

It was the largest cohort of communities in the country to move through the program together. “Their leadership and commitment to environmental sustainability and renewable energy intersects with recent efforts in Illinois to lead in these areas, the most notable being the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act,” said John A. Ostenburg, Mayor of Park Forest, a Chicago suburb that participated in SolSmart, and Chairman of the Mayors Caucus’ Environment Committee. “SolSmart better positions these local governments to take advantage of this investment and marks the region as a friendly, cost-effective place to do business.”

Lastly, it is important note that with the expansion of solar installations, the IBEW/NECA Technical Institute along with the Illinois Fire Inspector Association created fire safety training in solar technology***. They now offer to firefighters and other first responders training to address a solar system in a fire emergency and to understand general solar system fire safety. To be clear, fires are rarely caused by solar systems. When responding to a fire in a building with solar photovoltaic panels and storage, it is crucial for fire fighters to know the possible hazards such as inhalation exposure, electrical shocks and burns, falls from roof operations, roof collapse, and the danger from batteries.

*Statistics from the Advanced Energy Now 2016 Market Report

**All training is approved through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States and coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide. ANSI also accredits organizations that carry out product or personnel certification in accordance with requirements defined in international standards.

*** The training is in compliance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 – Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications and NFPA 1403 – Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions.