(The Center Square) – Colorado just released a report detailing the projected gaps in the state’s “climate workforce” as it hopes to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Some occupations with the largest expected gaps include electricians, wind turbine service technicians, solar panel installers and electric vehicle automotive technicians.
“The climate workforce is the backbone of our clean energy transition,” said Colorado Energy Office Executive Director Will Toor. “This report and its recommendations will help ensure our workforce is on track to support the widespread adoption of new technologies, meeting our needs not just today, but many years into the future.”
The Center Square spoke with Jennifer Gremmert, CEO of Energy Outreach Colorado, in an exclusive interview regarding the report. EOC is a statewide nonprofit that helps low-income Coloradans with their energy needs.
Gremmert said she is in agreement with the report’s findings that there are needs in the workforce that need to be addressed to meet the state’s climate goals.
“Fundamentally, EOC agrees with the recommendations in the workforce report,” she explained. “From our daily work across all 64 counties, we see how essential a strong, well-trained clean energy workforce is, particularly for the income-qualified households we serve who often require more time, care and customized solutions because of the crisis situations they are experiencing.”
To help address that need, the EOC recently created its own workforce development role to help scale the state’s skilled tradespeople.
Colorado hopes the report’s findings will also encourage the state, local governments, and training providers to better coordinate efforts to develop Colorado’s workforce in the key areas it identified as the greatest needs.
Those efforts could include upskilling the current workforce or training new members.
Ultimately, the state recognized that this will be necessary to meet its clean energy goals.
“Achieving Colorado’s ambitious climate goals depends on our ability to rapidly train a skilled, diverse pipeline of talent across our state,” said Colorado Workforce Development Council Managing Director Lee Wheeler-Berliner. “We must move to action collaboratively. The CWDC looks forward to working with the Energy Office to scale proven workforce strategies as well as innovate new opportunities to close gaps and seize this generational opportunity for the benefit of Coloradans, our environment, and our economy.”
The state will likely look to use taxpayer dollars to attempt to fill those workforce gaps, with recommendations currently including:
• Creating training opportunities.
• Strengthening apprenticeship programs.
• Coordinating entities throughout the state to increase access.
This is all part of Colorado’s ambitious clean energy plans. Moving forward, its statewide goals include a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a 65% reduction by 2035, and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis promised this will fuel more economic growth.
“The simple truth is that clean energy creates good jobs and economic growth. These innovative technologies are protecting air quality and the environment, while creating new opportunities for our state’s workforce,” Polis said. “We’re proud to be a leader in clean energy action, and support a strong workforce needed to drive innovation and achieve our climate goals.”
