Campus news

Media Advisory: Report on outlook, need for California energy jobs

By Kathleen Maclay

ATTENTION: Reporters covering energy, the environment, utilities, labor and the economy

WHAT

A news conference in Sacramento to announce the first comprehensive report on the jobs outlook and state workforce development needs generated by California’s efforts to encourage energy efficiency in homes and businesses, reduce peak demand, and encourage localized renewable energy generation.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s Donald Vial Center on Employment in the Green Economy, the California Community College Centers for Excellence, and Research into Action Inc.

The independent California Workforce Education and Training Needs Assessment was funded by California utility ratepayers, under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). It examined these key areas:

  • The impact of state and federal energy efficiency policies and programs on jobs and the labor market
  • The need to improve the quality of the installation of energy efficiency equipment and materials in some sectors by developing and supporting a stable and professionalized workforce
  • The need to coordinate and refocus the many pieces of the training system to incorporate new energy efficiency knowledge and skills, build on the strengths of state-certified apprenticeship programs, and build pipelines into good jobs for workers from disadvantaged communities

WHEN

10:15 a.m., Thursday, March 17

WHERE

Governor’s Press Conference Room 1190, State Capitol, Sacramento.

WHO

  • CPUC President Michael Peevey
  • Report authors Carol Zabin , co-director of the Vial Center, and Karen Chapple , a UC Berkeley associate professor of city and regional planning and faculty director of the Center for Community Innovation
  • Bernie Kotlier of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-National Electrical Contractors Association (IBEW-NECA), which provides green energy training for electricians and business development programs for contactors
  • Martin Morgenstern , secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency
  • California Sen. Loni Hancock ( D-Berkeley)

DETAILS

The report will be posted online at http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/ shortly before the news conference. It was mandated by the CPUC’s Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, which was adopted in 2008 and set goals and strategies for energy efficiency for California utilities, businesses and consumers.

The Vial Center ( http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/vial/ ) operates under the umbrella of UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment ( http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/ ).