Biden administration opens competitive funding for nonprofit partnerships to expand workforce training
With this week’s launch of the Career Skills Training program (CST), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began accepting applications for $10 million in competitive funding to expand energy efficiency workforce training programs.
The money is meant for nonprofit partnerships between public or private industry and labor organizations collaborating on energy efficiency classroom instruction and on-the-job-training for energy efficiency. Flowing from the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda and announced during Climate Week 2023, the program aims to address limited qualified green building workforce options nationwide and support implementation of national energy efficiency improvements.
Building performance professionals, energy auditors and similar workers all stand to benefit, granting them the certifications to install energy efficient building technologies.
“President Biden’s historic investments are accelerating the clean energy transition, creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, while turbo-boosting our clean energy economy,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “Today’s investment expands career training and retention programs that will equip the workforce with the necessary skills to deliver on the President’s climate goals and help us achieve our equitable clean energy transition.”
Applicants must submit a Community Benefits Plan alongside their application, detailing how it will benefit local community and labor, invest in the workforce, build up diversity, equity and inclusion principles, and assist both economic and environmental justice initiatives. A webinar will flesh out details on Oct. 3, 2023, providing insights into both the funding opportunity announcement and the application process.
Applications are due by Nov. 27, 2023 at 5 p.m.
These programs will be overseen by the DOE’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs. CST is, in many ways, is a supplement to Home Energy Rebate Programs, an $8.8 billion assortment of energy efficiency programs these certifications would give professionals the ability to implement.
