{"id":23999,"date":"2020-01-06T16:29:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?page_id=23999"},"modified":"2020-01-06T16:29:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:29:03","slug":"whats-going-on-with-clean-jobs-training-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/whats-going-on-with-clean-jobs-training-in-illinois\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s Going on with Clean Jobs Training in Illinois?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;What&#8217;s Going on with Clean Jobs Training in Illinois?&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:30|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><ul class=\"icon \"><li><i class=\"fa fa-caret-right\"><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20200106_WorkforceDevelopment.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>PDF version of this fact sheet<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/span><\/h6>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) of 2016 was huge. It ramped up energy efficiency programs for ComEd and Ameren customers, exploded the solar economy, and created low-income programs to extend the benefits of clean energy to all Illinoisans. But what about the \u201cjobs\u201d part of all this?[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24015&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In addition to the billions in private investment created through its renewable energy incentives, FEJA allocated millions to jobs training programs in Illinois. (As of 2018, there are 123,247 clean energy jobs in Illinois \u2013 a 4 percent growth rate from 2017, with an anticipated 8.5 percent growth rate in 2019.)<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, in compliance with FEJA, the Illinois Commerce Commission directed ComEd to implement a statewide solar workforce development plan, and ComEd just published its workforce development report for 2018! The full report is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.illinoissfa.com\/app\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2018-Workforce-Development-Implementation-Plan-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]FEJA also created three main job training programs detailed in the above report: the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Solar Training Pipeline Program<\/span>, the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Craft Apprenticeship Program<\/span>, and the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Multi-Cultural Job Training Program<\/span>. Three funding periods were created for 2017, 2021, and 2025. In each funding year, $10 million will be distributed to organizations across all programs, for a total of $30 million. The 2018 report measures the success of the programs that received the 2017 funding. Altogether, the programs enrolled 348 participants who went on to earn a combined total of 508 professional certifications.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24016&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Of the enrollees, 85 were women, 200 were men, 263 were minorities, 78 were from environmental justice communities, 49 were returning citizens, and 4 were from foster care backgrounds. There was an average 82 percent completion rate across all programs with 66 percent of graduates placed in jobs within 180 days of completing a program.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24013&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Here\u2019s a closer look at what the workforce development grantees have been up to:[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]1) Solar Training Pipeline Program<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Purpose: to create a solar installer pool for the Illinois Solar for All Program that includes individuals<br \/>\nfrom economically disadvantaged communities, including returning citizens and individuals<br \/>\nfrom foster care backgrounds<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Goal: 2,000 job placements by 2029<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Funding: $3 million in 2017, 2021 and 2025<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Providers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Illinois Central College:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; Two nine-week training sessions<br \/>\n&#8211; Partnered with Tri-County Urban League and Jobs Partnership Peoria<br \/>\n&#8211; 23 participants completed training and 16 received NABCEP PV Associate Certification<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Elevate Energy:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; Eight-to-ten-week training sessions (partnered with Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and GRID Alternatives in Marion\/Carbondale and Millennium Solar Electric in the south\/west sides of Chicago)<br \/>\n&#8211; 21 participants in Chicago, 9 participants in Marion<br \/>\n&#8211; Contractor Accelerator Program to provide program management to women-, minority-, and veteran-owned solar contractors (statewide)<br \/>\n&#8211; 3 contractors enrolled<br \/>\n&#8211; Recruitment and support services for solar trainees (Chicago)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">OAI Inc:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; Eight-week training program (Chicago and South Holland)<br \/>\n&#8211; 34 participants completed training (all from environmental justice communities), scheduled to take the National American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP &#8211; a certificate program for solar installers) Associate Certification exam in summer 2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Safer Foundation:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; 35-hour job skill training for returning citizens, with partner referrals to Elevate, OAI, and IBEW (Chicagoland, Quad Cities)<br \/>\n&#8211; 25 referrals to Elevate Energy, OAI, and IBEW programs<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]2) Craft Apprenticeship Program<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Purpose: to fund electrical apprenticeships and encourage participants (from economically-disadvantaged communities) to achieve NABCEP certifications<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Funding: $3 million in 2017, 2021 and 2025<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Provider: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 in Chicago Clean Jobs Training<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Goal: implement solar training throughout Illinois, including:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">17 of the local IBEW sites<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">6 partner community college campuses:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; Rock Valley (Rockford) \u2013 started 2019<br \/>\n&#8211; Olive Harvey (Chicago) \u2013 12 students completed<br \/>\n&#8211; Lincoln Land (Springfield) \u2013 started 2019<br \/>\n&#8211; Southwestern (Belleville, Granite City, and Red Bud)<br \/>\n&#8211; John Logan (Carterville) \u2013 started 2019<br \/>\n&#8211; Lake County (Grayslake) \u2013 started 2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">8 partner high schools:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">&#8211; Including Prosser Career Academy (Chicago) and Benito Juarez Community Academy (Chicago)<br \/>\n&#8211; 49 students began training in September 2018<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]3) Multi-Cultural Job Training Program<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Purpose: to fund multi-cultural jobs programs related to solar installations within diversity-focused community organizations<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Funding: $4 million in 2017, 2021 and 2025<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u2022 Providers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Chicago Urban League (Chicago) and Quad County Urban League (Aurora)<br \/>\n&#8211; 31 participants completed training<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">National Latino Education Institute<br \/>\n&#8211; 10 participants completed training<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Aspira of Illinois<br \/>\n&#8211; 9 high school seniors completed training at Antonia Pantoja High School (Chicago)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Hispanic American Construction Industry Association<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Chatham Business Association Small Business Development, Inc.<br \/>\n&#8211; 14 minority-owned businesses enrolled<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Austin Peoples Action Center<br \/>\n&#8211; 10 students completed training<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A side note &#8211; these programs are crucial to the clean energy economy in Illinois, but FEJA didn\u2019t go far enough. The Clean Energy Jobs Act would put Illinois on track to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 by further investing in bill-saving clean energy programs. If these goals are important to you, you should contact your legislators![\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]For the full report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icc.illinois.gov\/docket\/files.aspx?no=17-0332&amp;docId=288221\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>click here<\/strong><\/a>.<br \/>\nFor more information on the job training programs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.illinoissfa.com\/job-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>click here<\/strong><\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24014&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;What&#8217;s Going on with Clean Jobs Training in Illinois?&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:30|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) of 2016 was huge. It ramped up energy efficiency programs for ComEd and Ameren customers, exploded the solar economy, and created low-income programs to extend the benefits of clean energy to all Illinoisans. But what about the \u201cjobs\u201d part of all this?[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24015&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In addition to the billions in private investment created through its renewable energy incentives, FEJA allocated millions to jobs training programs in Illinois. (As of 2018, there are 123,247 clean energy jobs in Illinois \u2013 a 4 percent growth rate from 2017, with an anticipated 8.5 percent growth rate in 2019.) In 2017, in compliance with FEJA, the Illinois Commerce Commission directed ComEd to implement a statewide solar workforce development plan, and ComEd just published its workforce development report for 2018! The full report is available here.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]FEJA also created three main job training programs detailed in the above report: the Solar Training Pipeline Program, the Craft Apprenticeship Program, and the Multi-Cultural Job Training Program. Three funding periods were created for 2017, 2021, and 2025. In each funding year, $10 million will be distributed to organizations across all programs, for a total of $30 million. The 2018 report measures the success of the programs that received the 2017 funding. Altogether, the programs enrolled 348 participants who went on to earn a combined total of 508 professional certifications.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24016&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Of the enrollees, 85 were women, 200 were men, 263 were minorities, 78 were from environmental justice communities, 49 were returning citizens, and 4 were from foster care backgrounds. There was an average 82 percent completion rate across all programs with 66 percent of graduates placed in jobs within 180 days of completing a program.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;24013&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Here\u2019s a closer look at what the workforce development grantees have been up to:[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]1) Solar Training Pipeline Program \u2022 Purpose: to create a solar installer pool for the Illinois Solar for All Program that includes individuals from economically disadvantaged communities, including returning citizens and individuals from foster care backgrounds \u2022 Goal: 2,000 job placements by 2029 \u2022 Funding: $3 million in 2017, 2021 and 2025 \u2022 Providers: Illinois Central College: &#8211; Two nine-week training sessions &#8211; Partnered with Tri-County Urban League and Jobs Partnership Peoria &#8211; 23 participants completed training and 16 received NABCEP PV Associate Certification Elevate Energy: &#8211; Eight-to-ten-week training sessions (partnered with Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and GRID Alternatives in Marion\/Carbondale and Millennium Solar Electric in the south\/west sides of Chicago) &#8211; 21 participants in Chicago, 9 participants in Marion &#8211; Contractor Accelerator Program to provide program management to women-, minority-, and veteran-owned solar contractors (statewide) &#8211; 3 contractors enrolled &#8211; Recruitment and support services for solar trainees (Chicago) OAI Inc: &#8211; Eight-week training program (Chicago and South Holland) &#8211; 34 participants completed training (all from environmental justice communities), scheduled to take the National American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP &#8211; a certificate program for solar installers) Associate Certification exam in summer 2019 Safer Foundation: &#8211; 35-hour job skill training for returning citizens, with partner referrals to Elevate, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23999","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}