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New labor coalition wants Colorado’s unions at the forefront of the state’s green energy transit

Dan Hendricks trains future IBEW electricians in Denver for the entire state of Colorado. A key part of their training is learning how to install and maintain green energy infrastructure, from solar panels to wind turbines.
Caroline Llanes
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
Dan Hendricks trains future IBEW electricians in Denver for the entire state of Colorado. A key part of their training is learning how to install and maintain green energy infrastructure, from solar panels to wind turbines.

Climate Jobs Colorado has two goals: speeding and scaling up green energy projects around the state, and getting union labor to do the jobs created by those projects.

In a classroom full of motors and switches, Dan Hendricks is going over what goes into a 3-5-year electrical apprenticeship.

“This is towards the end of their apprenticeship, where they would learn motor control, different switching systems, things of that nature,” he says, showing me a piece of machinery. “So as they progress, right, the work gets more interesting.” He flicks a switch and triggers a sharp buzzing noise.

One of the lab-style classrooms in the DJEATC is closely supervised by Safety Steve. Electrical apprenticeships learn how to do a variety of tasks in the facility’s many labs and classrooms.
Caroline Llanes
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
One of the lab-style classrooms in the DJEATC is closely supervised by Safety Steve. Electrical apprenticeships learn how to do a variety of tasks in the facility’s many labs and classrooms.

Hendricks is the training director at the Denver Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Center (DJEATC), which trains future union electricians in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

As he walks me through the facility, Hendricks helps me get a little hands-on experience. He showed me a machine that bends metal conduits for wires in commercial buildings. Measuring out the distance from the conduit to the floor, he explains that we’re going to give it a three-inch “kick,” or bend.

“So you hit the bend button,” he tells me. I hit it with not enough force at first and then with a little too much gusto. “Just that quick,” he says, laughing and motioning to where the conduit is now bent into shape.

As part of the curriculum, all of the apprentices who come through this facility will learn how to install and maintain green energy infrastructure.

Hendricks opens the garage door to show off the building’s parking lot. Right in the middle, there’s a 60-foot wind turbine.

“Right below that are four electrical vehicle chargers,” he says. “Not exactly is the wind turbine powering the chargers, but you know, that's kind of an example of what we can do. And you can see the photovoltaic installation on the union hall across the way.”

Electrical apprentices will learn green energy skills by working on this wind turbine, EV chargers, and solar panels on the neighboring IBEW union hall.
Caroline Llanes
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
Electrical apprentices will learn green energy skills by working on this wind turbine, EV chargers, and solar panels on the neighboring IBEW union hall.

Colorado has big goals for reducing its carbon emissions and becoming a leader in green and renewable energy. The state has committed to 100% net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with ambitious benchmarks along the way. This year, the state has a goal of a 26% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels and says that by 2030, 80% of the state’s electricity will come from renewable sources.

To reach those goals, Colorado needs a workforce that can reliably and rapidly install the infrastructure the state needs to upgrade its grid and make communities more resilient and efficient.

Now, the state’s labor leaders want to see union workers using these skills to lead the charge on the state’s energy transition.

Dennis Dougherty, executive director of Colorado AFL-CIO, visited one of the classrooms of the IBEW training facility, on January 16, 2025, to make his case for union labor.

“Union workers in this room and across this state have built some of the most critical infrastructure in Colorado to make Colorado what it is today,” he said.

This was the launch of Climate Jobs Colorado, a newly announced coalition of labor unions and trade councils from across the state. Their goal is twofold: increase and expedite green energy projects across the state, and ensure the jobs created by those projects are union jobs.

“You do not have to choose between a good union, family-sustaining job, and taking care of Colorado's climate, our water, and our lands,” Dougherty said.

An important part of that effort is Colorado’s rural communities — communities that have historically made up the state’s energy industry, often in coal and fossil fuels.

A Cornell University study, published in collaboration with these Colorado unions, notes that coal and fossil fuels workers are well-positioned to transition to geothermal energy.

It uses a lot of the same equipment and infrastructure as oil and gas, as well as drilling and piping techniques, and abandoned well pads and coal mines can be adopted for geothermal.

Jason Wardrip, Climate Jobs Colorado's president, sees the possibilities for rural communities that make up these industries.

“We're not going to try and make them get a new job or train for a new job,” he said. “We want them to be doing the same thing they're doing now just with a different product or different flow through the pipeline or whatever that might be.”

Speakers announce the launch of Climate Jobs Colorado at the DJEATC in Denver. From left: Nate Bernstein (podium) executive director of Climate Jobs Colorado, Dennis Dougherty, Jason Wardrip, Dan Mondragon IBEW Local #113, Melissa Shetler of Cornell University’s ILR program, and Aidan Boyd, IBEW apprentice applicant.
Caroline Llanes
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
Speakers announce the launch of Climate Jobs Colorado at the DJEATC in Denver. From left: Nate Bernstein (podium) executive director of Climate Jobs Colorado, Dennis Dougherty, Jason Wardrip, Dan Mondragon IBEW Local #113, Melissa Shetler of Cornell University’s ILR program, and Aidan Boyd, IBEW apprentice applicant.

The workers responsible for the installation and maintenance of Colorado’s energy infrastructure, green or otherwise, are the ones feeling the impact of its changing climate the most, says Dennis Dougherty.

“It's workers who build the green economy and make our state more environmentally sustainable,” he said. “It's workers who are out there in the temperatures who have to brave the dangers, right? That some of us in this room, myself included, who put on a suit don't have to worry about.”

Colorado is the first state in the Mountain West with a labor coalition for climate jobs, but other states across the country are working on similar campaigns.

The Texas Climate Jobs Project started a training program in the trades that gives participants preferred entry into a union apprenticeship, with many graduates going on to work in renewable energy.

California Labor for Climate Jobs touts a $40 million investment from the state to create the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers pilot program, to train fossil fuels workers in green energy jobs.

Elsewhere in the Mountain West, clean energy jobs are expected to increase.

In Wyoming, a 2023 report from the Department of Energy said the state had nearly 46,000 energy workers with just over 8,300 working in clean energy. A report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory says there is potential for significant growth in green energy jobs in the next five years, especially when it comes to energy efficiency. In Utah, solar jobs are growing. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s National Solar Jobs Census found that jobs in the solar industry grew 4% in Utah in 2023.

Colorado’s Office of Just Transition helps coal workers move away from the industry, and while the state has some requirements around labor, wages, and workforce development for energy projects, Wardrip would like to see even more.

“If you're going to give out state money, it doesn't hurt to have a local hire provision in there that supports taxpayers supporting Colorado workers,” he said to cheers in the room.

For Dan Hendricks, the apprenticeship director in Denver, the beauty of union-trained workers is that they have stability, because of their skillset.

Dan Hendricks demonstrates some of the more complex wiring electrical apprentices will do towards the end of their apprenticeships at the DJEATC in Denver.
Caroline Llanes
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
Dan Hendricks demonstrates some of the more complex wiring electrical apprentices will do towards the end of their apprenticeships at the DJEATC in Denver.

“That wind turbine out there really is just another electrical installation for us,” he said. “You know, it's a piece of machinery that has to hook to the electrical system of the building. So it's really no different than a motor or anything else of that nature that we might do anyway.”

He said people have lots of big ideas about what green jobs or climate jobs are, but in all likelihood, the electrician who installs the solar panels for a statewide utility could also be the person installing three-way light switches in your home.

Copyright 2025 Rocky Mountain Community Radio.

This story was shared with KSUT via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KSUT.

Caroline Llanes
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