Clean power profiles: Once they are hooked, the technician takes the students through climate-solving activities

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Inside a converted warehouse in one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods, students surround Jackie Robinson as she questions them about a 1980s furnace. Although they will encounter old equipment like this, this program is cutting edge, aiming to train people to work at home in ways that address climate change and make clean energy more affordable.

More than 3.3 million people work in the clean energy industry and the number is growing rapidly. But Robinson, a real estate sales coach, worries that’s not widely understood.

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“Many low-income people don’t even know these jobs exist … it’s all about transparency,” he said.

In addition to increasing key employees, strong job opportunities also reduce duplication. Robinson’s own transition to clean energy workers and ultimately to the nonprofit, the Energy Coordinating Agency, came while he was in prison.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of an occasional series of personal stories from the energy transition – the transition away from the fossil fuel-based world that is causing the most climate change.

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He was imprisoned for 27 years for drug trafficking.

“I was a top student at school, no question. But sometimes you think you’re smart and you meet the wrong people … and you think, ‘hey, it’s good money, easy money, but … there’s no good end to it,’ he said.

Her three young children were the motivation to use all that time inside to learn new skills so she could take care of herself when she got out.

Robinson took courses in welding, carpentry, accounting, fashion merchandising and Arabic. “If it was a free class that taught me something, I’d take it,” she said.

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“They found the body, all right,” he said, referring to the arrest, and raising his hands to his eyes, “but I can go into many places in my mind.”

Johnson Controls, an international construction materials company, also offered classes within the prison system. It was there that Robinson first looked into the energy field and had the opportunity to work in refrigeration and heating and air conditioning. Johnson Controls hired some people when they got out of prison, and Robinson was one.

After working there and at another training organization, Connection Training Services, he came to this equity-focused nonprofit located in the Philadelphia suburb of Kensington. Where Civil War uniforms have been sewn, a life-size roof rests on the floor for students to practice installing solar panels, and large walls display exposed plumbing.

With his keys jingling and his bat gently tapping the floor, Robinson, 59, leads the group into the back classroom to learn circuits. Above the window, painted on the wall, is a quote from Benjamin Franklin that Robinson says is one of his favorites: “He who has a trade, has a place.”

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It talks about his reason for wanting to teach these skills. “It changes the financial situation of his whole family,” he said. “As people in the community make more money, the quality of the community rises. We develop houses and everything that works.”

That’s the dream of Quenton McClellan, 61, who heard about the training from his career counselor at Narcotics Anonymous. He worked in a bar and struggled with alcohol and drugs. “I was drinking, you know, incredibly … I checked myself and I went and got help,” she said.

Today McClellan is going two years without drugs and alcohol. “It feels good, because now I can think, and at one time I couldn’t even think. And it’s just a great feeling … I want to learn. I want to move forward.” The students also look at each other, McClellan said, in a way no one has ever looked at him before.

You get a certificate for installing heat pumps, climate control for older furnaces and air conditioners.

“These types of workers are really needed and in high demand right now, and the organizations that can train them are in high demand,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, also known as E2, a nonprofit business group that promotes clean energy. .

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, with its tax credits for heat pumps, solar panels and clean energy generation incentives, is expected to create more than 109,000 new jobs, Keefe said. Heat pumps can be installed anywhere, creating a need for workers in all countries.

“When I tried to install heat pumps in my house many years ago, I couldn’t even find a contractor who knew how to do it. I had to do it myself,” he said.

As he gives a lesson on installing this type of heating and air, Robinson notices a few students in the back of the room on their phones, and makes a mental note to contact them later. He often writes messages to students to check, he said, to give guidance, advice on life.

The Energy Coordinating Agency trains more than 200 people each year as structural analysts, solar panel installers, and commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians. It offers classes for free, with grant funding. Low-income people from the area can also come in for help with their utility bills and budgeting advice.

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Seeing students who felt “left out of the equation” starting jobs and supporting their families is what brings fulfillment, said Robinson.

“This work I am doing is just my history. I learned that I can do something, and I can pass it on to the next generation, and we use it to earn a living and increase the wealth of the generation,” he said.

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