Hydro-Québec and Transmission Developers Announce $40 Million Green Economy Fund

ALBANY, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 22, 2021 / Hydro-Québec and Transmission Developers today announced details of their joint Green Economy Fund (GEF), a $40 million green jobs training fund designed to support residents living in disadvantaged and frontline communities by providing them with new job training opportunities that will help them take advantage of New York’s transition to a green economy. The fund is expected to start providing funding in 2021.

This Green Economy Fund (GEF) has been developed in close consultation with local workforce development experts, labor unions, housing authorities, community-based organizations, business groups, environmental NGOs, academics, and other leading organizations. The GEF will serve the needs of communities located along the entire route of the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission line from the North Country all the way down to New York City. It will focus on funding relevant proposals from established green jobs training programs and be accessible to residents living in disadvantaged communities, as well as workers transitioning from the fossil fuel industry.

Laura Gibson, Economic Development Advisor, Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, New York City said, “The development of the Green Economy Fund is a unique experience to participate in. The team behind the fund meticulously met with leading workforce development experts in New York City to create a program reflective of the needs of New Yorkers. Whether talking to the Apprenticeship Readiness Committee, NYCHA, CUNY, and other programs devoted to ensuring a diverse workforce with access to high-quality careers, the development of this generous fund mindfully considered the barriers facing those in social and environmental justice communities. This program is being developed by community partners and government to ensure it positively impacts the needs of underserved communities and expands the clean energy workforce in NY State.”

Tria Case, the University Executive Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation at the City University of New York (CUNY) said, “CUNY greatly appreciates the work that has gone into making this fund an opportunity to further expand workforce development programs that support the green economy. CUNY is committed to collaborating and building an effective pathway to the new green economy that includes those who have historically struggled to find meaningful, long term jobs.”

Kathleen Culhane, President, Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) said, “The Green Economy Fund is a bold measure that will directly support training and job placement among communities in New York that have been the most hard-hit by the pandemic and help them to take advantage of growing opportunity in the clean energy world. The team developing the CHPE recognized that job training programs throughout the State are already doing this important work and by providing them with new funding streams we can quickly provide quality training to women and black and brown New Yorkers. NEW looks forward to partnering with the CHPE team as their work to power New York City with clean energy progresses.”

Jerrod Bley, Clean Energy Program Director, Adirondack North Country Association said, “I’ve appreciated Hydro-Québec’s and TDI’s commitment to integrating Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) in their approach to assisting workforce development in the North Country, thinking creatively about how to address inequities, and the sincere attempt to engage the community as they develop the Green Economy Fund (GEF) to support jobs training for a just energy transition.’

Amber Rangel Mooney-Director of Workforce Development, Business Council of New York State said, “As we look to grow the number of opportunities in New York’s energy sector, we need to strengthen and build the workforce pipeline locally, The Green Economy Fund is such an opportunity to develop local talent for the current workforce needs as well as for those that will come with the increase of clean energy projects in New York.”

Lisa Futterman, Regional Director, New York City, Workforce Development Institute (WDI) said, ‘WDI supports the establishment of the Green Economy Fund in order to create needed skills training and employment opportunities in the growing field of renewable energy”

These expressions of support from leading and acclaimed jobs training organizations in NY State come on top of formal resolutions of support for the Champlain Hudson Power Express that have been passed by 35 different local municipal governments in New York State.

The GEF will be administered by a third-party organization and will include a separate decision-making Advisory Board made up of experienced local community members focused on evaluating proposals. The green jobs training programs seeking funding should be established and accessible to New Yorkers from disadvantaged and frontline communities, black, indigenous and people of color, women. The list of Advisory Board members will be announced at a future date.

The GEF will provide a 20-year funding stream that, in addition to jobs training programs, will also support efforts designed to reduce non-traditional barriers such as day care and transportation. The Advisory Board will also review qualifying proposals that support retrofits to low-income households in disadvantaged communities to assist with reducing the energy burden and improve their overall health.

The GEF will begin dispersing funds once the Champlain Hudson Power Express project completes commercial agreements expected in late, 2021.

About Transmission Developers Inc. and the Champlain Hudson Power Express:
Transmission Developers Inc. (TDI) is a Blackstone Portfolio Company. New York-based Blackstone is a global leader in alternative asset management.

The Champlain Power Express (CHPE) is a permitted, 339-mile-long, buried, and resilient high-voltage direct-current transmission line designed to transport renewable energy directly into New York City. CHPE will reduce carbon emissions equivalent to removing approximately 44 percent of the cars from NYC streets, support other sources of renewable energy and provide an alternative to fossil fuel generation. Slated to be operational by 2025, CHPE is estimated to create 1,400 jobs during construction and has committed to use union labor.

More information on the company and the project are available at www.chpexpress.com.

About Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec generates, transmits, and distributes electricity, and ranks among the largest renewable energy producers in the world. For decades Hydro-Québec has been a reliable energy partner for New York providing clean power to the State in support of its clean energy and reliability needs.

More information on the company is available at https://www.hydroquebec.com/clean-energy-provider/.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Lynn St-Laurent
st-laurent.lynn@hydroquebec.com
514-289-6638

John Lacey
jlacey@mower.com
315-413-4294

SOURCE: Hydro-Québec

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