Minnesota's new Energy Climate Corps aims to diversify growing energy jobs

Like many AmeriCorps programs, the new Minnesota Energy Climate Corps aims to make a difference in the community, but organizers hope it ignites broader workforce changes, too.

The program will launch in January, focused on completing energy efficiency projects in the Twin Cities while introducing young adults to energy jobs and diversifying that growing sector.

"We're inviting people to the table who are not usually even invited," project director Jill Baum said. "If we can spark an interest ... that's what will start to make a difference."

St. Paul-based Conservation Corps of Minnesota & Iowa, along with Serve Minnesota, the nonprofit that oversees Minnesota's AmeriCorps programs, are starting the new AmeriCorps program. It will train 20 climate fellows to perform energy audits and do other energy-efficiency projects in public buildings.

The program is particularly seeking Black and Indigenous Minnesotans and other people of color (BIPOC) for the 11-month positions.

Across the U.S., the energy sector workforce is largely white and male. About 24% of the workforce is nonwhite, slightly higher than the overall U.S. workforce, though there are lower than average percentages of African-American workers, according to a 2023 U.S. Department of Energy report.

Women are also vastly underrepresented in the energy sector, making up 26% of the workforce, according to the report.

Terrall Lewis, co-manager of the Climate Corps, said the program is different than other efforts because it's been designed by and for the community, and is helping to promote economic sustainability.

"Things are prescribed to the community from the outside without understanding the models to change lives," Lewis said. "We don't get included in the conversation unless we're the product. ... This is an opportunity to do something different. This is an investment and access to the future."

The climate fellows, who will work out of Renewable Energy Partners, a Black-owned solar energy company in north Minneapolis, will leave the paid program with new skills for increasingly high-demand jobs.

The number of U.S. energy sector jobs increased by 3.8% from 2021 to 2022, with the number of clean energy jobs rising by 3.9% — both higher rates than overall national employment rates, according to the Energy Department report.

The AmeriCorps members will start by focusing on energy-efficiency projects at Minnesota state parks. On Thursday, the new employees and three climate fellows practiced drafting an energy audit for an office building at Fort Snelling State Park.

They were trained by members of the California Conservation Corps' Energy Corps, which has operated for nearly a decade and helped retrofit schools and other public buildings across California with LED lightbulbs — helping to reduce greenhouse gases while giving young adults experience in a growing sector.

"You can walk in and make a huge difference immediately," Baum said. "There's a huge need right now [for these jobs]."

In October, President Joe Biden announced the creation of an American Climate Corps, saying it was a way to mobilize the next generation of conservation workers. Minnesota leaders were already planning to launch their own Energy Climate Corps, which Baum hopes can be expanded next year to small cities and rural regions across the state.

"We could see this taking off," she said.

Baum said the program's first year will cost $1.3 million and be funded through federal AmeriCorps dollars and philanthropic funds from a California-based funder. The Twin Cities program is still seeking Energy Climate Corps members, specifically BIPOC 18- to 35-year-olds. The climate fellows will be paid $2,600 month and receive a $6,895 education award; applicants should go to conservationcorps.org/energy.

After a year, the AmeriCorps members could go on to a variety of careers, Baum said, ranging from the Department of Natural Resources to HVAC jobs.

"That's one of the things that our program is hoping to do — open a lot of different doors," she said. "You need a program like this that exposes folks to a whole variety of options and gets them thinking into the future about cutting-edge jobs."

Deandre Colquitte, 32, one of the initial three climate fellows, said he was drawn to a program that can teach him new skills in a sought-after sector.

"I don't think a lot of people know this is a thing," he said of jobs like doing the energy audit. "It's literally going to be our future."