ComEd Announces Recipients of $3 Million Solar Job Training Grants
December 07 2017 - 2:39PM
Business Wire
Announcement on the one-year anniversary of the
Future Energy Jobs Act being signed into law
Today, on the one-year anniversary the Future Energy Jobs Act
(FEJA), ComEd announced four organizations have been selected to
develop and conduct solar pipeline training programs made possible
through grants funded by FEJA. Elevate Energy, Illinois Central
College, OAI, Inc., and the Safer Foundation, will receive a total
of $3 million as a part of the first wave of FEJA funding to train
individuals to work in the solar industry.
Passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by
Governor Rauner one year ago today, FEJA allocates a total of $30
million to develop and implement a number of major energy job
training programs. The $30 million in funding will be allocated in
three $10 million increments paid in 2017, 2021 and 2025, and used
to support job training programs over the next 12 years. As FEJA
outlines, the solar pipeline training effort will focus on
individuals who are from economically disadvantaged and
environmental justice communities, alumni of the Illinois foster
care system and Returning Citizens. The multicultural training
grants totaling $4 million were awarded in November to the Chicago
Urban League, Hispanic American Construction Industry Association
(HACIA), National Latino Education Institute (NLEI), ASPIRA, Inc.
of Illinois, Chatham Business Association Small Business
Development, Inc. and Austin Peoples Action Center (APAC) and will
target individuals from diverse and/or underserved backgrounds. The
third program, a craft apprenticeship training program being
offered through the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers
(IBEW), received a $3 million grant last month.
“ComEd is committed to helping grow renewable energy in Illinois
and equally dedicated to developing the workforce of the future who
will help integrate more clean energy like solar, into the Illinois
energy grid,” said Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd President and CEO. “The
training programs that will be created by the organizations
announced today will ensure that the next generation of energy
workers is prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities
created by a new clean energy economy. We are excited to see this
part of the FEJA take flight and look forward to working with these
partners to ensure success of these job training programs.”
ComEd engaged the Chicago Community Trust (CCT), an Illinois
foundation that works to transform lives and communities, to
develop and administer a rigorous RFP process to evaluate proposed
solar pipeline training grantees and their programs. CCT, with the
help of a Technical Review Committee and Policy Review Committee
made up of workforce development, energy markets, community
development and organizational capacity experts evaluated all
proposals. Grantees selected to receive funding were determined
based on the following criteria: geographic reach, experience
delivering workforce training programs and alignment with the goals
of the FEJA legislation, including successful recruitment,
training, and placement of trainees who are or were foster children
and Returning Citizens.
As Peggy Davis, Chief Officer Programs and Strategic Integration
at The Chicago Community Trust, remarked, “Our partnership with
ComEd gives us the chance to support the workforce development
goals of FEJA while helping Illinois pivot to a green economy. We
are confident that the organizations we selected to receive
financial support align well with our shared goal of building
sustainable communities and an inclusive economy, especially among
those who have experienced hardship.” Funding for all three
workforce training initiatives outlined by the FEJA – Multicultural
Training efforts, a Craft Apprenticeship program, and now, Solar
Pipeline training - will be disbursed before the end of this
year.
The Future Energy Jobs Act was passed last December with broad
bipartisan support from more than 200 businesses, labor,
environmental, faith-based and other groups and became effective in
June. The historic legislation will help create thousands of clean
energy jobs, provides funding for job training and also will help
jumpstart renewables in Illinois – setting the stage to grow enough
solar and wind energy to power one million homes. In addition it
will significantly expands energy efficiency programs, creating
more than $4 billion in consumer savings and reducing the amount of
CO2 in the air equivalent to removing 18 million cars from the
road. Further, the FEJA contains significant programs for
low-income communities and extends ComEd’s customer assistance
programs through 2021.
About ComEd
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive
energy provider, with approximately 10 million customers. ComEd
provides service to approximately 4 million customers across
northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For
more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Chicago Community Trust
The Chicago Community Trust, our region’s community foundation,
partners with donors to leverage their philanthropy in ways that
transform lives and communities. The Trust connects the generosity
of donors with community needs by making grants to nonprofit
organizations working to improve metropolitan Chicago. Since our
founding in 1915, the Trust has awarded approximately $2 billion in
grant funding to more than 11,000 local nonprofit organizations –
including more than $236 million in 2016. Learn more
at www.cct.org.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171207006151/en/
ComEdElizabeth Keating,
312-394-3500Elizabeth.Keating@ComEd.comorChicago Community TrustEva
Penar, 312.616.8000Epenar@cct.org
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