California Air Resources Board

Attendees: Lisa Chiladakis (CARB), Natalie Reavey (CARB), Katherine Dillon (CARB), Marissa Williams (CEC), Jana McKinny (CEC), Fabiola Moreno (IBEW), Cristina Marquez (IBEW), Elizabeth Perez (GC Green), Vivian Rahwanji (Community Housing and Development Corporation), Mars Wu (The Greenlining Institute), Valeria Cantor (GO-Biz), Heather Hickerson (GO-Biz), Gennet Paauwe (CARB), Sara Miles (CEC), Kathryn Canepa (CARB), Larry Rillera (CARB), George Payba (LADWP), Robyn Marquis (CALSTART), Amanda Mattes (Cal/EPA), Amira Streeter (Voltera Power), Amrit Sandhu (CARB), Stephanie Parent (CARB), Ashley Georgiou (CARB). Andrew Hoeksema (Ecology Action), Ted Lamm (CLEE), Elisia Hoffman (Electrify America), Jaimie Huynh (Cal/EPA), Gia Vacin (GO-Biz), Graciela Garcia (CARB), Taylor Sieben (GRID Alternatives), Alyssa Silhi (Ford), Adriana Cruz (CWDB), Nidia Erceg (GO-Biz), C. Sequoia Erasmus (CA Transportation Commission), Tom Knox (ValleyCAN), Sam Gregor (CARB), Kathy Saechou (Valley Vision), Caitlin Blockus (Valley Vision), Candace O'Melia (GM), Peter Cooper (Employment Training Panel), Mabel Aceves Lopez (CEC), Gloria Huerta (Miocar), Kimberly McCoy (CCAC), Sarah Somorai (Hyundai), Heather Zappia (Making Hope Happen)

Overview:  The California Energy Commission (CEC) provided an overview of their Draft ZEV Workforce Training and Development Strategy and continued the discussion about a proposed project for the Task Force, a Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV) Workforce Catalog.

Agenda:

• Introductions
• Overview of the CEC's Draft ZEV Workforce Training and Development Strategy
• ZEV Workforce Development Project Idea
• Next Steps

Meeting Summary:

Jana McKinny with the CEC provided an overview of the CEC's Draft ZEV Workforce Training and Development Strategy.  For copies of the slides, please contact us at ZEVEquity@arb.ca.gov.

Clean Transportation Program 

• The transportation sector is responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions and public health impacts.
• Pollution burdens fall disproportionately on vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
• AB 118 (2007), the Clean Transportation Program, was created to invest in a cleaner, healthier transportation system.
• In 2023, the Clean Transportation Program was reauthorized through 2035
• Up to $100 million per year.

Funding

• Clean Transportation Plan Investment Plans
• Workforce cumulative awards: more than $44 million
• Available funds: $10.4 million

ZEV Workforce Training and Development Strategy

• Clarifies the California Energy Commission's role in developing a robust workforce to support zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure.
• Identifies objectives and activities to build career pathways to support zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure.
• Establishes funding priorities and provide an actionable plan that reflects program goals.
• Draft Staff Report

Objectives  – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP)

• Increase the number of EVITP-certified electricians
  • Priority: High
  • Funding: $3 million
  • Interagency agreement with the Employment Training Panel
• Host an EVITP Workshop
  • Stakeholder feedback
  • Actions to expand training

Objective – Charger Maintenance and Repair Training

• Priority: High
• Funding: Estimated $5 million
• To support:
  • Early career pipeline
  • Station uptime and reliability
  • Funding for charger repair
• Partners:
  • Educational providers
  • Charger manufacturers
  • Charger service providers

Objective – ZEV Infrastructure Workforce Assessment

• Priority: Medium
  • Funding: $200,000
• Available data:
  • Charger installation workforce of 71,500 job-years
• Scope:
  • Identify skill gaps
  • Installation and maintenance
  • Geographical distribution

Internal Objectives – Education, Engagement, and Outreach

• ZEV Workforce Training and Development Strategy
• Workforce Website Updates
  • Clean Transportation Program Workforce Training and Development
  • Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) Information
  • ZEV Workforce Training and Development Workshop

Draft Roadmap

Open Discussion:

A question came up asking if CEC has anything specific for tribes? Jana mentioned that CEC offered a tribal solicitation grant funding opportunity last year. Applications have already closed and there’s a notice of proposed awards posted on their website.  Tribal members can apply for the workforce development grants but Jana was unsure if or when any new solicitations focused on tribes would be released.

A comment was made regarding the Charger Maintenance and Repair Training incentive program objective, emphasizing that licensed electricians should be trained in appropriate safety procedures for repairing electrical equipment and that only licensed electricians should perform charger maintenance and repair tasks.

Task Force Project Idea – ZEV Training Catalog

Jana described a project that the Task Force could work on.  The proposed project focuses on identifying and cataloging existing ZEV workforce training and development programs across California. The goal is to create a user-friendly, public-facing dashboard that highlights critical information about these programs. The ZEV Equity Task Force workgroup could:

• Determine the appropriate data fields for inclusion,
• Contribute to compiling and verifying the program inventory,
• Assist in designing and launching the webpage/dashboard, and
• Develop a plan for ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure the data remains current and relevant.

Other ZEV Workforce Tracker Resources:

• eTRUC – ZEV Training Programs webpage
• ATL California Careers in Electric Vehicles

Poll to Guage Interest:

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll.  Here are the results. 

1. Do you think creating a workforce development catalog would be beneficial?

• Yes, it would be valuable - 28/30
• No, it would not be valuable – 0/30
• I’m unsure – 2/30

2. Would you be interested in contributing to the development of this catalog?

• Yes, I’m interested in contributing – 14/30
• No, I’m not interested in contributing – 5/30
• I’m unsure – 11/30

We will reach out to those of you that showed interest in helping with this project with our next steps.

Open Discussion:

Someone asked if there would be a way to include careers pathways or manufacturer training programs to support it and career pathways to support where you can go in this industry? There’s interest in including battery manufacturing and LDV training programs within it.

The response was, yes, the scope and what would be included would be determined by the subgroup and the experts developing the catalog.

Someone suggested that proper recycling could be added to the scope. Also, it was suggested that clear regional market labor information for EV skills should be included and that the catalog needs to be regionally focused to make sure the training offered focuses on the area.

There was a comment requesting that we prioritize rural areas. You often hear about initiatives in cities, but the rural areas need it the most. 

Next Steps

• CARB staff will send out a meeting summary with links to all the resources provided during the meeting.
• CARB staff will reach out to those of you that showed interest in helping with this project with our next steps.

Return to ZEV Equity Task Force homepage