Media contact: Wanda Heard, Sr. Public Relations & Marketing Manager: wheard@gridalternatives.org
At GRID Alternatives, we believe a clean energy future must be built on real skills, real jobs, and real opportunity. Our AmeriCorps members and Installation Basics Training (IBT) graduates gain hands-on experience installing solar panels, wiring energy storage, and building EV charging infrastructure. These programs create well-paying careers, strengthen local economies, and expand access to clean energy in communities that need it most, including rural areas and historically underserved populations. That’s why it is deeply concerning to see Congress considering cuts to programs like AmeriCorps, which would block thousands of Americans from serving their communities, gaining skills, and accessing career pathways in clean energy.
This is not just a matter of fairness, it is a matter of economic strategy and national competitiveness. The United States already underinvests in workforce development, spending just one-fifth of the average that other advanced economies spend on workforce and labor market programs. By slashing funding for workforce development and deployment programs, we risk ceding industrial leadership to other countries that are actively investing in training, manufacturing, and scaling these technologies.
The stakes are real for families, too. Under-resourced households already spend as much as 14% of their income on electricity, and that burden grows as demand increases from data centers, AI, electrification, and rising tariffs. Energy demand is projected to rise significantly in the near term future, making the need for skilled workers and installed infrastructure more urgent than ever.
GRID Alternatives is already proving what’s possible. Our programs:
- Provide industry-recognized, hands-on training, such as our IBT 200 Program which is a North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals (NABCEP) registered training program that prepares participants for careers in clean energy.
- Prioritize women, BIPOC communities, and other historically excluded groups.
- Partner with schools, local organizations, and employers to create clear pathways into solar, storage, and EV careers.
- Deliver thousands of solar installations that directly benefit families and communities. Our 2024-25 SolarCorps cohort worked on projects that generated $25 million in energy bill savings for community members.
- Help graduates secure well-paying jobs that keep clean energy infrastructure and know-how in the United States.
Investing in workforce development is not a luxury. It is essential to expanding opportunity, advancing environmental justice, and ensuring America remains competitive in the technologies it invented. Congress must protect and expand investments in AmeriCorps and Workforce Investment Opportunity Act programs. Anything less is a missed opportunity that risks higher energy costs, lost jobs, and diminished leadership in the industries of the future.
GRID Alternatives will continue to train the workforce, serve communities, and build a clean energy future - with or without congressional support - because the need is real, and the opportunity is too important to wait.