The UC-Berkeley Donald Vial Center on Employment in the Green Economy has submitted comments on the California Energy Commission's First Triennial Investment Plan for the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program. The center appreciates the Energy Commission's responsiveness to its suggestions on workforce components of the EPIC portfolio. Although not all of the suggestions were integrated into the EPIC Final Staff Report, some were taken into account in the revisions. The center has a few minor suggestions for additions or revisions to the Report, including the need for EPIC to partner with the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and others to provide competitive grant funding to support new clean energy curriculum development, train-the-trainer initiatives, and appropriate certifications for energy-related apprenticeships, focusing on IOU service territories. The center also suggests that apprenticeship programs and participating unions and employers be included in the process.
