Solar energy absorbing coal sector job losses
Unemployed miners and former oil and gas workers are being retrained for the solar industry under a scheme in Colorado. Solar Energy International (SEI) used a matching grant of $401,000 to set up the Solar Ready Colorado initiative in June, with the goal of retraining 350 people; 90 so far have completed the programme. Although renewable and non-renewable industries would tend to be viewed as adversaries, Chris Turek, spokesman for SEI, said the training courses tried to steer clear of politics. "We all can agree that the technology works and it's getting less and less expensive every year," he added.

The coal industry has been painted with a bleak brush in recent years. Production has plummeted. Plants have closed. Jobs have been lost.

And while mining communities grapple with neighbors moving away, increasingly empty schools and fewer tax dollars, a separate industry is blooming: renewable energy.

National rhetoric pits the two energy producers against each other. But in Delta County, one organization is targeting unemployed coal miners in the hope of transitioning them into the solar industry — and leaving politics out of the conversation.

“We try to steer clear from that in our classes. We try not to get too political,” said Chris Turek, spokesman for Solar Energy International. “We all can agree that the technology works and it’s getting less and less expensive every year.”

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment in April gave the Paonia-based solar organization a $401,000 matching grant as part of the WORK Act, legislation passed in May 2015 that aims to fill skills gaps in Colorado industries. SEI used the money to start Solar Ready Colorado, an initiative to attract and train not only unemployed miners but also veterans and workers furloughed from the oil and gas industry and other trades.

Marla Korpar, who coordinates a separate SEI solar program in Delta County, said that about two or three years ago, the organization saw coal mines closing and skilled workers become jobless in their community. She said this kick-started the organization’s efforts to engage its local community, whereas a majority of its attention previously was on national and international efforts.

“We’re very sensitive to our history as a coal-mining community, and we want to preserve that history,” Korpar said. “That’s where this convergence of being an energy-producing valley and community comes from.”

Launched in the middle of June, the program hopes to recruit and train 350 people in various fields within the solar industry and has reached 90 so far. Students can take either a single course — an introduction to solar — or more than 200 hours of training in the Solar Professionals Certificate Program.

Turek said SEI focused on recruiting miners by going to workforce offices, other career transitioning programs and using their own connections with the coal-mining sector. He said the miners’ focus on safety, as well as their experience with mechanics and electrical engineering, can be easily transferred to the solar industry.

“People are becoming more and more open to it because they’re starting to realize it’s just another part of the energy sector,” Turek said. “At the end of the day, we need electricity, and that need for electricity is just growing.”

He said the program has been well-received so far. SEI is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and has more than 45,000 alumni.

“I think this whole issue of retraining, especially coal workers, to have exciting new careers in solar is definitely a topic all over the country,” Colorado Solar Energy Industry Association president Rebecca Cantwell said. “SEI, in a way, they’re somewhat unique because they’re located in Paonia, right in the heart of coal country.”

She said there have been other initiatives to transition people to solar, noting community college programs backed by the White House and Department of Energy initiatives. She said that SEI is the premier solar training agency in Colorado.

“We’re going to see more and more of this because there’s more and more awareness that the coal industry is in real trouble,” Cantwell said. She later added, “The concerns are very real in these Colorado communities that have been dependent on these good-paying (coal mining) jobs.”

Larry Sherwood, president of Interstate Renewable Energy Council, said that 10 years ago, maybe even as recently as five years ago, the sector was so small that job training didn’t make sense.

Sherwood said he started hearing chatter about training former coal miners about six months to a year ago. He said the quickly growing industry tries to find employees from sectors that are losing jobs or from veterans finishing their service.

“I know that solar companies are definitely looking for people to hire and sometimes having trouble finding people,” he said.

He attributed it both to a lack of trained solar workers but also difficulty finding hard workers who are willing to climb on roofs and have basic job skills, like showing up on time.

“I would tend to be supportive of any effort to help people,” said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association. But he later added, “We need to be realistic about what the prospects are for finding anything that comes close to what (mining) jobs pay.”

The average mining job in Colorado paid $91,049 in 2015, according to the National Mining Association. In comparison, SEI said installer jobs are paid a “living wage,” potentially making somewhere from $15 to $25 an hour, which would translate to $31,200 and $52,000 annually.

“It’s not the same as what you’re making in the coal mines, but there’s good opportunity for growth and other benefits,” SEI Executive Director Kathy Swartz said. “And it’s a good job. Solar jobs aren’t going anywhere.”

Mining jobs offer higher pay but are becoming harder to come by. The coal industry has been on a decline for reasons that vary depending on the source — coal advocates blast government regulations, while renewable advocates cite market forces, notably a lower demand because of cheap natural gas and companies investing large amounts of money banking on increased demand in Asia that didn’t pan out.

Politics aside, employment at coal mines dropped 36 percent to 1,449 miners in 2015 from 2,248 in 2012, according to data from the Colorado Mining Association. That does not include losses in indirect employment, perhaps thousands of jobs in related industries.

Two of the three mines fueling jobs in the county — Elk Creek Mine and Bowie #2 — have gone idle since 2013. Arch Coal, the operator of the remaining West Elk Mine, filed for bankruptcy in January and lost its spot as the state’s top producer when it cut production by half and slimmed staff by 45 percent in the first six months of this year, compared with the first six months of last year.

“In the last three years, Delta County has seen a decrease of over a thousand jobs in our coal-mining industry,” Delta County Administrator Robbie LeValley said. “That’s 1,000 families that no longer have a job in the coal-mining industry.”

But at the same time, solar jobs have grown quickly, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. If the U.S. economy in 2015 played out on a track, solar job growth would lap overall job growth 12 times. Colorado has 4,998 solar jobs, mainly installers, and 400 solar companies, according to the Solar Foundation. Those Colorado solar jobs are also expected to grow by 10 percent.

Turek said that although the program is based in Paonia, SEI is hoping to train people from across Colorado. Arapahoe County leads Colorado with 1,305 solar jobs, followed by Denver and Jefferson counties, which have 982 and 887, respectively. But Delta County only has 69.

SEI isn’t oblivious.

“What we never want to do is artificially say, ‘Take training and you’ll get a job here,’ ” Swartz said. “The solar market has to be able to support the people that you’re training.”

So SEI is taking a two-prong approach. Beyond Solar Ready Colorado, the organization created Solarize, a program aimed at growing the number of homes with rooftop solar. During a three-month period, homeowners can sign up for solar with a rebate system. The more people who sign up, the cheaper installations are for everyone.

Solarize community coordinator Korpar said the initial program with a neighborhood coalition in Portland, Ore., was successful. A community of about 9,500 people invested $400,000 and added 123 kW of solar to the grid, creating six new jobs. SEI had a second Solarize program from April to July in Delta County, which aimed to add 200 kW to the grid. Korpar said SEI extended the deadline, though, because there was a lot of interest and the organization hasn’t been able to give all prospective customers proposals yet.

Turek also said that SEI helps students get jobs through connections with industry partners, like the Colorado Solar Energy Industry Association, and alumni who are now running some of Colorado’s big solar companies, such as Sunrun.

LeValley said Delta County leaders have been supportive of SEI’s work, adding that its part of the county’s efforts to broaden its economic base.

Historically, the county has relied on coal mining, agriculture and tourism. She said the county still relies on those three, although they’ve been expanded to include a broader energy portfolio that includes renewables instead of just coal, and a greater diversification of tourism and recreation.

But she was quick to say the county hasn’t given up on coal, emphasizing that Colorado coal is a source of clean energy because it is low in sulfur. It is also still needed as it provided 60 percent of the state’s electricity in 2015.

“Coal will always be a base that we will build on,” LeValley said.