Bob Hattier has spent most of his IBEW career working with renewable energy, including as a business representative for Chicago Local 134 for the last seven years.
Over time, he’s noticed the chance to work with solar and other forms of alternative energy increasingly draws younger people to the trade — and that’s what has made the Illinois IBEW Renewable Energy Fund, or REF, so valuable, he said.
“What I’ve seen is that in a lot of the recruiting we’re doing, renewable energy work and electric vehicle charging work is what they expect to do,” said Hattier, the fund’s executive director since 2021.
The REF (ibewref.org) includes all 17 Illinois inside locals, plus Terre Haute, Ind., Local 725, which has jurisdiction in the state. Hattier and others involved attend career days at high schools, junior colleges and technical schools.
They’re looking for young, intelligent, motivated men and women who are curious about of all the IBEW has to offer in renewable work.
REF holds an annual Summer Solar Program, in partnership with Local 134. The two-week program combines both classwork and field instruction in renewable energy. Those who finish it successfully are guaranteed a spot in Local 134’s pre-apprenticeship program.
The process is competitive and while it doesn’t guarantee a spot in any local’s full apprenticeship program, it often gives its participants a step up. “We give them a head start as opposed to just walking in off the street,” said Bea Thompson, another Local 134 business representative who serves as a trainer and board secretary for the fund.
“It gives them a sense of what we actually do,” she added. “It gives them a hunger.”
Kaitlyn Moser, 29, learned about the fund while participating in the Chicago Women in Trades program last year. She was selected to take part in the Summer Solar program, completed that and begins her Local 134 apprenticeship this summer.
“I’ve learned so much,” she said. “I prefer this pathway than coming right off the streets and starting an apprenticeship. Even though it’s taken nearly a year of my time (between the two programs), I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
About 5,000 men and women have successful completed REF programs at the local unions, high schools and community colleges within the fund since its inception in 2017, but the numbers have increased during the last three years. About 3,000 successfully completed it from 2022 to 2024.
Funding comes from an annual grant from the state of Illinois. (It receives no federal funding.) The grant was recently renewed and will allow REF to expand training into battery storage systems. Hattier said many locals help that grant go further by not charging the fund when one of its JATC instructors is pulled away to assist with the students.
Solar is an obvious point of emphasis, but he said students are exposed to all areas of electrical work. That way, they learn skills that will make them more employable if renewable energy work decreases due to government policy or contractors’ demands.
“It’s a career in the electrical industry, not just a job that depends on the flow of outside forces,” he said.
Added Thompson: “The beautiful thing is we prepare them for a well-rounded career. It’s not just a job. They learn all the skills that will allow them to work in the electrical industry.”
Downstate just across the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Collinsville Local 309 runs its own solar program. JATC instructor Stephen Erspamer said the fund’s consistent support has allowed him to expand the program into other areas.
He’s especially proud that students are shown how to safely install solar in homes, not just commercial projects. That’s also been incorporated into Local 309’s apprenticeship training, he said. He’s also worked with local fire departments on how to safely respond to an emergency involving renewable energy.
“We would not be able to do that without the fund,” said Erspamer, who sits on the fund’s advisory committee.
“I not only teach it,” he said. “I live it.”
Erspamer tries to make his visits to career days as interactive as possible. He brings along a working electric vehicle charging port that is powered by solar. That shows off not just solar, but the importance of building out the EV charging network as more Americans switch to electric cars.
He challenges students to see beyond the obvious uses. Instead of being reminded by your parents to water their plants or garden, install a solar pump that activates spraying at 8 a.m. every morning.
“Things like that really raise eyebrows,” he said. “Those are the outside the box thinkers I try to attract.”
One condition of the grant is to attract students who might not normally be exposed to a career in the trades.
“One of the senses of pride we feel as an organization is that we’re bringing trades back in the high schools,” Hattier said. “There was a lot of opportunity when we were still (attending school), but recent generations, it’s not been there so much.”
The demands on the electrical grid are growing faster than ever, especially with the proliferation of data centers. The fund is another tool to meet that demand for skilled construction workers, Hattier said. That’s another reason the state continues to fund it.
Hattier said he and others involved in the program are fortunate in that Illinois legislators see the value of the program and investing in solar. Some areas of the country are not so fortunate. He advises others to jump on opportunities offered by state and local governments to expand training programs.
“When we see workforce grant opportunities, we all should consider pursuing them because of what we are as an organization and what we represent,” he said. “We’re here to represent electrical workers and our training programs are second to none.”
