ComEd Announces Recipients of $3 Million Solar Job Training Grants

Announcement on the one-year anniversary of the Future Energy Jobs
Act being signed into law

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, on the one-year anniversary the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA),
ComEd announced four organizations have been selected to develop and
conduct solar pipeline training programs made possible through grants
funded by FEJA. Elevate Energy, Illinois Central College, OAI, Inc., and
the Safer Foundation, will receive a total of $3 million as a part of
the first wave of FEJA funding to train individuals to work in the solar
industry.

Passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by Governor
Rauner one year ago today, FEJA allocates a total of $30 million to
develop and implement a number of major energy job training programs.
The $30 million in funding will be allocated in three $10 million
increments paid in 2017, 2021 and 2025, and used to support job training
programs over the next 12 years. As FEJA outlines, the solar pipeline
training effort will focus on individuals who are from economically
disadvantaged and environmental justice communities, alumni of the
Illinois foster care system and Returning Citizens. The multicultural
training grants totaling $4 million were awarded in November to the
Chicago Urban League, Hispanic American Construction Industry
Association (HACIA), National Latino Education Institute (NLEI), ASPIRA,
Inc. of Illinois, Chatham Business Association Small Business
Development, Inc. and Austin Peoples Action Center (APAC) and will
target individuals from diverse and/or underserved backgrounds. The
third program, a craft apprenticeship training program being offered
through the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW),
received a $3 million grant last month.

“ComEd is committed to helping grow renewable energy in Illinois and
equally dedicated to developing the workforce of the future who will
help integrate more clean energy like solar, into the Illinois energy
grid,” said Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd President and CEO. “The training
programs that will be created by the organizations announced today will
ensure that the next generation of energy workers is prepared to take
full advantage of the opportunities created by a new clean energy
economy. We are excited to see this part of the FEJA take flight and
look forward to working with these partners to ensure success of these
job training programs.”

ComEd engaged the Chicago Community Trust (CCT), an Illinois foundation
that works to transform lives and communities, to develop and administer
a rigorous RFP process to evaluate proposed solar pipeline training
grantees and their programs. CCT, with the help of a Technical Review
Committee and Policy Review Committee made up of workforce development,
energy markets, community development and organizational capacity
experts evaluated all proposals. Grantees selected to receive funding
were determined based on the following criteria: geographic reach,
experience delivering workforce training programs and alignment with the
goals of the FEJA legislation, including successful recruitment,
training, and placement of trainees who are or were foster children and
Returning Citizens.

As Peggy Davis, Chief Officer Programs and Strategic Integration at The
Chicago Community Trust, remarked, “Our partnership with ComEd gives us
the chance to support the workforce development goals of FEJA while
helping Illinois pivot to a green economy. We are confident that the
organizations we selected to receive financial support align well with
our shared goal of building sustainable communities and an inclusive
economy, especially among those who have experienced hardship.” Funding
for all three workforce training initiatives outlined by the FEJA –
Multicultural Training efforts, a Craft Apprenticeship program, and now,
Solar Pipeline training – will be disbursed before the end of this year.

The Future Energy Jobs Act was passed last December with broad
bipartisan support from more than 200 businesses, labor, environmental,
faith-based and other groups and became effective in June. The historic
legislation will help create thousands of clean energy jobs, provides
funding for job training and also will help jumpstart renewables in
Illinois – setting the stage to grow enough solar and wind energy to
power one million homes. In addition it will significantly expands
energy efficiency programs, creating more than $4 billion in consumer
savings and reducing the amount of CO2 in the air equivalent to removing
18 million cars from the road. Further, the FEJA contains significant
programs for low-income communities and extends ComEd’s customer
assistance programs through 2021.

About ComEd

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 10 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 4 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit
ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About Chicago Community Trust

The Chicago Community Trust, our region’s community foundation,
partners with donors to leverage their philanthropy in ways that
transform lives and communities. The Trust connects the generosity of
donors with community needs by making grants to nonprofit organizations
working to improve metropolitan Chicago. Since our founding in 1915, the
Trust has awarded approximately $2 billion in grant funding to more than
11,000 local nonprofit organizations – including more than $236 million
in 2016. Learn more at www.cct.org.

Contacts

ComEd
Elizabeth Keating, 312-394-3500
[email protected]
or
Chicago
Community Trust
Eva Penar, 312.616.8000
[email protected]