by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin Examiner
March 27, 2024
With a boom in building solar energy and other clean power generation on the horizon in Wisconsin, the state’s major electric power utilities have promised to use union labor for the work, under an agreement with construction unions announced this week.
The deal may enable the utilities to leverage federal tax credits under federal legislation enacted in 2022 to boost clean energy construction. The Inflation Reduction Act includes incentives for building solar, wind and other clean energy generation capacity while providing apprenticeship opportunities and paying local prevailing wages — a federal standard intended to prevent bidders from driving down wages when they compete for government contracts.
With the agreement, participating utilities say they will “ensure that our renewable energy projects in Wisconsin employ local union workers and are built according to recognized, competitive labor standards.”
The utilities signing on are Alliant Energy, Madison Gas and Electric, WEC Energy Group, and Xcel Energy. The unions involved are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council, and Wisconsin Operating Engineers Local 139.
Nearly 100 new projects are anticipated over the course of the decade for solar, wind and hybrid power generation or battery storage facilities tied to clean energy plants, according to union representatives.
The work is forecast to add nearly 16,000 megawatts of power generation or storage capacity and potentially create more than 18,000 construction industry jobs. Three utility solar projects are under construction, another 19 projects of various kinds are under review by the state Public Service Commission, and 73 are in earlier stages of development.
“The construction of utility-scale solar projects will benefit ratepayers by providing clean and reliable energy sources while bolstering our state’s workforce and economy,” said Kent Miller, president of the Wisconsin District Council for the Laborers union, in a statement.
“This isn’t just about flipping the switch to renewables; it’s about flipping the script on how we power Wisconsin,” said Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, in a statement. She said the union-utilities partnership, which she called the first of its kind in the nation, allows for competitive labor standards, including standard local wages, benefits and training. That “ensures the economic impact of these projects stays in our local economy.”
“WEC Energy Group recognizes the impact of these clean energy jobs on our state and local economies and was pleased to partner with Wisconsin’s building trade unions in adding affordable, reliable and clean energy to the state,” WEC Energy spokesman Brendan Conway said in a statement.
He said the Milwaukee-based company will work with unions “to help ensure that developers and contractors building these projects hire Wisconsin-based contractors that employ union workers to the fullest extent possible.”
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