As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, Pennsylvania has been awarded more than $1.7M as a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Auditor Training Grant Program.
The program trains individuals to conduct energy audits or surveys of commercial or residential buildings. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has been selected to receive $1,786,391 to grow the commonwealth’s private sector residential energy auditor workforce.
“There are over two million American workers in the energy efficiency sector and the demand for their skills continues to grow thanks to the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. “Today’s funding will expand our clean energy workforce as we move swiftly to deploy energy saving solutions to homes and consumers across the nation.”
The initiative is aimed at providing comprehensive training and field mentoring to ensure that skilled individuals are available to deploy clean energy programs equitably across the state. According to a release, the program is designed to play a crucial role in building a more sustainable future for Pennsylvania and highlights the importance of investing in a green building workforce and the positive impact it can have on energy efficiency.
Pennsylvania is part of the first round of selectees for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs through the Energy Auditor Training Grant Program. Funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program will distribute up to $27.98 million to 15 State Energy Offices and the American Samoa Territorial Energy Office to increase the green building workforce across the country and support national energy efficiency improvements sparked by the infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Energy Auditor Training Grant Program promotes energy efficiency, offers energy savings to homes and businesses, creates quality jobs, and benefits communities. The Biden-Harris Administration set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments in climate, clean energy, and other areas go to disadvantaged communities.