Energizing the Workforce: What We Lack in Clean Energy?
A recent report published by key stakeholder organizations in clean energy (E2, Alliance to Save Energy, Black Owners of Solar Services, Energy Efficiency for All, American Association of Blacks in Energy, and BW Research Partnership) entitled “HELP WANTED: Diversity in Clean Energy” brings updated evidence and perspective into one of the largest issues within our industry, “clean energy has a diversity problem.” This report has been published and shared through many platforms such as Utility Dive and local news websites- contributing to its importance in various spaces. This report highlights gender, racial, and ethnic disparities in our industry that do not accurately match the reality of our communities. For example, “women represent nearly half of the U.S. labor force in its entirety, but the clean energy industry is composed of less than 30% of women” (page 3). Factual evidence like this (and many I will touch upon below) are the ongoing factors as to why the lack of diversity is a crucial issue that will greatly affect our workforce in the years ahead.
What about COVID-19?
Much of the language in this report does not reflect the vast changes that happened during the last year and a half due to COVID-19. “The pandemic only exacerbated inequality in employment, as job losses from the economic fallout of the pandemic were higher for women and for racial and ethnic minorities than for other demographic groups” (page 16). Based on the evidence above, underrepresented groups faced greater hardships particularly in the clean energy sector. “About 37% of the clean energy industry is made up of ethnic minorities and 31% of them accounted for all job losses.” It was common knowledge that at the start of the pandemic, many of the residents in our communities were losing their jobs, but as time passes it becomes more apparent that these job losses are either a.) in the clean energy sector or b.) directly harming women or racial and/or ethnic minorities or c.) both.
Narrowing in on EE
While energy efficiency is the largest sector when looking at clean energy, this report highlights that “… Black, Hispanic, Latino, and female workers are all underrepresented in energy efficiency. However, as the sector seeks to recover alongside the overall economy, there are significant opportunities to broaden the diversity of its workforce” (page 22). As a woman in clean energy (more specifically in EE) who did not have any background in this field, I have developed into a strong advocate for this industry. Many people think that you must have years of education and experience to enter such a technical space and while that of course helps, it is not a requirement. “With the national median wage for EE workers is 28% higher than the national median,” there is an opportunity to not only obtain beyond a livable wage, but also these sectors also enjoyed higher levels of unionization and better health care and retirement benefits (page 22).
Energy Burden Contribution
The communities within the territory that is served by the SJVCEO suffer from extremely high energy burdens. “One-fourth of all U.S. households and two-thirds of low-income ones have high energy burdens, meaning they spend more than 6 percent of their income on utility bills.” Expanding the access of energy programs and the opportunity to participate in said programs in rural communities is directly connected with household energy burdens. What makes successful energy programs in these regions? Hiring residents from those regions to be part of energy programs! We have discussed the importance of a localized workforce but providing the opportunities to marginalized communities to seek employment in this space can lead to lower energy burdens.
Source:
https://e2.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/E2-ASE-AABE-EEFA-BOSS-Diversity-Report-2021.pdf