Green jobs initiative advances

subscribe

A "green jobs" initiative sought by Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford moved to the full Nevada Senate following approval of amendments by a key legislative committee.

The Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee voted unanimously for SB152, which uses federal stimulus funds to train about 3,200 people for the renewable energy industry, fund weatherization of about 6,500 homes and upgrade government buildings and schools to make them more efficient.

The funds would be used by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and the state Housing Division, which would contract with qualified nonprofit groups to create or enhance job-training programs statewide.

Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, has said legislators must still determine how much of the nearly $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money allocated to Nevada can be spent on the initiative, intended to cut greenhouse emissions, lower energy costs and create job opportunities.

He also said the initiative would immediately give newly trained workers jobs through a list of prioritized projects from the state Public Works Board, county school districts and state university-college regents.

As amended, the bill says the state labor commissioner must determine the prevailing wage for the workers, and the program ends once federal stimulus money is gone. Those changes had been proposed by Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas.

Horsford, responding in an earlier hearing to questions from Cegavske and others, said the purpose of the program is job creation and economic recovery, and the initiative is grant-funded and not meant to be permanent.

Other amendments deal with state Housing Division contracts and adding waste heat to definitions of renewable energy under the bill's provisions.

Related News

electrical revenue meters

BC Hydro activates "winter payment plan"

VANCOUVER - As colder temperatures set in across the province again this weekend, BC Hydro says it is activating its winter payment plan to give customers the opportunity to spread out their electricity bills.

"Our meteorologists are predicting colder-than-average temperatures will continue over the next of couple of months and we want to provide customers with help to manage their payments," said Chris O'Riley, BC Hydro's president.

All BC Hydro customers will be able to spread payments from the billing period spanning Dec. 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 over a six-month period.

Cold weather in the second half of December 2017 led to surging…

READ MORE
uk national grid

National Grid to lose Great Britain electricity role to independent operator

READ MORE

inflation-climate-change-clean-energy-challenges

Rising Electricity Prices: Inflation, Climate Change, and Clean Energy Challenges

READ MORE

schneider-electric-aids-in-notre-dame-restoration

Schneider Electric Aids in Notre Dame Restoration

READ MORE

powerlines

Report call for major changes to operation of Nova Scotia's power grid

READ MORE