L&I announces $2.5M for clean energy workforce development

Jennifer Berrier, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, said Friday the state will invest $2.5 million in a grant program designed to boost workforce development and industry recovery in the clean energy sector.

Berrier said the department is asking local workforce development boards to submit project proposals that would support at least 25 local or regional clean energy businesses. Five “Clean Energy Workforce Development” worth up to $500,000 are available.

“This investment in the clean-energy sector’s workforce is an investment in the future of Pennsylvania,” she said. “While its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is well underway, this is an industry that the Wolf Administration wants to see thrive over the next decade. We need to be developing a talent pipeline now to make that vision a reality.”

According to a report from the state Department of Environmental Protection, between March and December 2000, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania lost 13,200 clean energy jobs – a 14 percent decline compared to 2019.

Now, while the industry is recovering, employers in the clean energy sector are indicating that they need more skilled workers. Before the pandemic, eight in 10 clean energy employers in Pennsylvania said they had difficulty finding qualified applicants, citing a lack of experience and industry-specific knowledge.

The state’s clean energy sector will require greater numbers of fabricators, assemblers, and other manufacturing workers, as well as construction and installation workers such as HVAC mechanics, electricians, and solar photovoltaic installers.

The clean energy industry includes technology sectors of energy efficiency, clean energy generation, alternative transportation, clean grid and storage, and clean fuels, as well as sub-sectors of solar, wind, efficient lighting, hydropower, smart grid, electric vehicles, and biomass fuels.

Project proposals are due to L& by March 14, 2022. The projects will begin in July and continue through June 2025.