TexasBGApollo_20111103

8/3/2019 TexasBGApollo_20111103

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/texasbgapollo20111103 1/23

Creating Clean Energy

and Transportation Jobs in Texas



T he Te xa s Blu eGre en Ap ol lo Pro gr am

Texas BlueGreen Apollo Alliance

Steering Committee:

Coordinator: Dave Cortez

Gary Buresh, International Rep,

International Brotherhood o Electrical Workers Dist. 7

Michael Cunningham, Executive Director,

exas State Building & Construction rades Council

James Delgado, Career Development Specialist,

American Youthworks

Patricia Gonzales, Senior Vice President,

Willie Velasquez Institute

Connell Linson, Executive Director, Green Door Inc.

Luke Metzger, Director, Environment exas

Laura Miller, Director o Projects exas, Summit Power

(Designee – Chris Kirksey, Director o Projects)

John Montgomery , Consultant, Ringdale Inc.

Bee Morehead, Executive Director, exas Impact

(Designee – Josh Houston, Legislative Counsel)

Romeo Munoz, President, United Auto Workers Local 848

John Patrick , Secretary-reasurer, exas AFL-CIO

(Designee – Rick Levy, Legal Counsel)

Tom “Smitty” Smith, Director, Public Citizen

(Designee – David Power, Deputy Director)

Hal Suter, Chair, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter

(Designee – Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director)

Ron Van Dell, President, CEO, SolarBridge echnologies

Steve Wiese, President, Clean Energy Associates

Table o Contents

Summary o Recommendations ..................................................

Introduction..................................................................................3

Create Jobs by Transorming

Renewable Energy Use in Texas...................................................

Create Jobs by Promoting Energy Saving Technologies

and Energy Efciency Upgrades..................................................

Create Jobs by Promoting the Use o and Inrastructure

or Electric and Advanced Fuel Vehicles, and Trains ............... 12

Create Jobs by Making it in Texas by Texans............................. 14

Create Economic Prosperity or All and

Tap the Skills and Productivity o Texas Workorce................. 18

Conclusion:

Implement the Texas BlueGreen Apollo Program Now........... 20



Summary o Recommendations

Create Jobs by Transorming

Renewable Energy Use in Texas

Build on the success o wind and open up exas’ energy markets by adopting the proposed 500 MW non-wind RPS;

Generate 3,000 or more MWs o renewable energy rom sources other than wind and prioritizein-state production by 2025;

Remove barriers to the expanded use o on-site solar andother distributed renewables by:

º Easing registration requirements with thePUC or owners o on-site systems;

º Allowing third-party ownership andleasing arrangements in competitive markets;

º Providing air market pricing onsurplus electricity sold back into thegrid aka “net-metering”;

º Expanding solar rebate and incentiveprograms through individual utilities

and/or through a state program.

Create Jobs by Promoting Energy Saving

Technologies and Energy Efciency Upgrades

Create a exas Energy Efciency and Natural GasConservation Coordinating Council to help coordinateprograms, nancing, and education across state agenciesand utilities;

Continue to increase the goals or the Energy Efciency Incentive Program past 2013;

Move quickly to adopt the 2012 International Energy andConservation Code, and incorporate advanced buildingstandards or new buildings;

Expand opportunities to increase energy efciency

through innovative nancial mechanisms.

Create Jobs by Promoting the Use o

and the Inrastructure or Electric and

Advanced Fuel Vehicles and Trains

Continue to support state and municipal conversion toelectric, plug-in hybrid and other advanced uel vehicles;

Expand incentive programs to make going electric moreaordable or all exans;

Increase the investment o existing and uturetransportation unding in high-speed rail and other publictransportation projects to improve options and access inexas.

Create Jobs by Making it in Texas by Texans

Set aside a part o the Enterprise and Emerging

echnology unds appropriated by the Legislature to attractclean energy companies to exas, and enorce the contractson jobs created in return or these incentives;

Create a “Green-to-Gold” loan und at the state level toprovide manuacturers with much needed capital;

Promote “Buy exas” and “Buy America” policies.

Create Economic Prosperity or All and Tap the

Skills and Productivity o the Texas Workorce

rain exas workers to meet the demands o the cleanenergy economy;

Expand existing worker training anddevelopment programs;

Ensure that the transition to a clean energy economy creates pathways out o poverty

Prioritize high-wage, amily-supporting jobs.




Introduction

With the possible exception o Caliornia, exas

has more potential or the development o jobs and

industries related to renewable energy, energy storage,demand response, energy efciency, and clean

transportation solutions than any other state in the

union. As thousands o exans continue to cope with

rising uel costs, cuts to benets and services, and low-

wage employment, we must move to capitalize on what

could be the best opportunity or exas to create jobs

and usher in a new era o prosperity and economic

growth: the chance to rapidly expand our clean energy

economy.

Known or our proud people, a culture o “bigger is

better”, and an independent state o mind, it’s no

surprise that exas leads the nation in both energy

production and energy demand. Home to a large

number o energy-intensive industries in the oil and

gas, high-tech, cement, and steel production sectors,

exas is at a critical juncture in planning its energy

uture with an expected population increase rom 24

million to 31 million persons between 2008 and 2020.1

Te exas BlueGreen Apollo Program provides a

comprehensive clean energy jobs creation strategy or

exas. By engaging and garnering the support o

workers and organized labor, businesses and investors,

community organizations, and environmental

advocates we have developed a 21st century hiring plan

that will help retain our state’s position as an energy

leader and put thousands o exans back to work.

With a long history o air quality issues, exas hasmore to gain by developing clean energy and new

green jobs than perhaps any other state. Our large

industrial and population bases, combined with an

electric sector that relies on ossil uels—natural gas

and coal—or some 80 percent o its production makes

exas, when compared to other states, the top producer

o greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.2

o begin to abate this problem, policy initiatives such

as the exas Renewable Portolio Standard, a ederal

tax incentive or wind power, and investments and

lanning over the last eleven years have led exas to

develop capacity or the production o over 10,000megawatts o wind-based power—approximately one-

third o all wind production in the entire US—and the

construction o a major utility-scale solar plant. In

addition, energy use in exas has been signicantly

reduced through utility energy efciency programs and

the construction o more “Energy Star” homes than

any other state.



Several exas cities, including Dallas, Austin and San

Antonio, are national leaders in green building standards

and several large green technology manuacturers are

located in exas, including Freescale Semiconductor,

Applied Materials, and ECO-Westinghouse.

exas is third only to Caliornia and New York with

144,081 clean economy jobs in sectors ranging rom

renewable energy to energy efciency to pollution

control and transportation.4 As total employment in

these and other sectors grows much aster than the

overall economy, exas has continued to attract over

$700 million in investments rom energy companies

and venture capitalists looking to capture a share o the

emerging clean economy market.5

Despite the progress, the potential or clean energy and

energy efciency in exas remains largely untapped.

With a shi toward cost savings investment strate-

gies, exas could reduce electricity use 22% by 2023 by

investing in energy efciency, combined heat and power

technologies, and on-site renewable energy generation,

while generating tens o thousands o new jobs.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential or

clean energy policies to drive job growth in exas. A

study by the BlueGreen Alliance ound that a nationwide

Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) would create some

60,000 new jobs in exas by 2020, including 20,000 in

the solar sector. Te Center or American Progress

estimated that approximately 150,000 jobs would have

been created in exas over the next ten years had a

national Renewable Portolio Standard (RPS) been

combined with the ederal economic stimulus bill.8

In recent years, there has been considerable interest

among clean economy stakeholders to seize the energy

savings potential in exas. A recent report by the

American Council or an Energy Efcient Economy

ound that increasing exas’ energy efciency goals rom

30% o growth in demand to 100% o growth in demand

would create 43,500 jobs in the state by 2030.9

With our large, diverse and skilled workorce,

productive economy, and history as a leader in the

energy and transportation sectors, exas can and should

be a leader in the expansion and generation o new clean

ndustries and green jobs. But this will not occur without

advancing policies and goals on renewable energy, the

electrication o our transportation grid, increasing

energy efciency, new incentives or manuacturing, and

the expansion o skills development programs. Our

mission is clear: we must mobilize the kind o investment

and ingenuity that made exas a leader in wind energy

by opening up the markets to allow more investment in

the clean energy and clean transportation sectors, with

overnment playing a acilitative role.

Te exas BlueGreen Apollo Program is a blueprint or

building a long-term commitment to a new clean energy

economy that will lead to broadly shared economic

rosperity, energy diversication, and less dependence

on imported energy, and will simultaneously provide

critical environmental benets in the orm o reduced air

emissions, lower water use and less toxic wastes.

Te burgeoning green revolution presents all exans

with our modern day “Spindletop” moment, and we

must move swily to capitalize on these new

opportunities in order to continue to be the world’s

energy leader.




Create Jobs by TransormingRenewable Energy Use in Texas

Whether it’s wind arms out in rural West exas or

small-scale distributed solar in our big cities,

exans are ready to stake our claim in the clean energy

economy and take advantage o the thousands o clean

energy jobs that will be created as a result. As o early

2011, exas’ growing wind energy sector – ranked

sixth in the world i the state w as its own country – is

responsible or the creation o nearly 10,000 direct and

related jobs across the state.10 By transorming the way

we develop, invest in, and store renewable energy, we

can ensure that exas remains a leader in renewable

energy, and that exans continue to benet romthousands o clean energy jobs coming to our state.

Build on the success o wind and

open up Texas’ energy markets by

adopting the 500 MW non-wind

Renewable Portolio Standard

exas rst dipped its toes into the renewable energy

waters with a bill to deregulate electric utilities in 1999,

which included a requirement that retail electricproviders invest in, acquire or purchase a small amount

o renewable energy. In 2005, the exas Legislature

expanded the RPS goal to 5,880 MWs by 2015, which

led to the creation o ve Competitive Renewable

Energy Zones (CREZ). As hundreds o miles o

transmission lines continue to be constructed, setting

the stage or 18,000 MWs o wind by 2020, it is vital

that we diversiy our renewable energy portolio and

invest in solar, geothermal, biomass, and other sources

o clean energy. A 2008 report by the State Energy

Conservation Ofce (SECO) ound that exas had

more potential or solar, wind, geothermal and biomass

energy than any other state.11

o begin realizing the economic benets o these

energy resources, the Public Utilities Commission o

exas (PUC) must adopt a proposed mandatory rule

that would require development o 500 MWs o non-

wind renewables, as well as work to ensure its ull

mplementation by 2015. Doing so will be a strong rst

step, sending a powerul market signal to investors andclean tech business owners that exas is indeed open

or business and ready to capture a wide range o clean

energy jobs and investments.

Generate 3,000 or more MWs o

renewable energy rom sources other

than wind and prioritize in-state

production by 2025

While thousands o jobs have already been created by

nvestments in wind energy, a signicant percentage

o the wind turbines used were made overseas, and

development o other renewable resources like solar,

eothermal, and biomass has lagged behind wind. Te

reviously cited SECO study ound that exas could

meet all o its energy needs by creating large-scale solar

lants in one county alone with vast solar potential –

El Paso County.12 As municipal utilities in Austin and

San Antonio take the lead by committing to 200 MWs

and 450 MWs o solar respectively by 2020, exas

should consider a statewide 3,000 MW solar-specic

nvestment program. Research shows that even just a

,000 MW goal could generate almost 21,500 new jobs

throughout the state by 2020.13

While exas currently has the potential to utilize

thousands o old oil and gas wells to develop between

hundreds to thousands o MWs o geothermal power,



energy rom other sources such as orest residues and

urban wood waste, better known as biomass, can alsohelp exas diversiy its energy portolio.14 Capitalizing on

the 20 million annual tons o biomass available in exas,

Southern Power Company is working to open a 100 MW

biomass plant in Nacogdoches County later this year,

creating some 300 jobs in rural East exas.15 By

embracing properly located biomass acilities that

include efcient post-combustion pollution controls,

exas can tap into an estimated 4,600 MWs o potential

biomass capacity in the state and capitalize on more than

22,000 potential new jobs.16

o urther realize the ull job creation benets o clean

energy generation, exas must adopt an energy

storage component in order to enhance the reliability o

the electric grid, maximize the potential o renewable

energy generation, and lower energy costs or

consumers. With the passage o SB 943 during the 82nd

Legislative Session, the potential or increased

investments and job growth in energy storage is closer to

becoming a reality. Xtreme Power, based in Kyle, exas,

is leading the way by developing a 36 MW energy storage

system or the Notrees wind project in west exas – the

largest o its kind in the world.

Remove barriers to the

expanded use o onsite solar andother distributed renewables

Besides utility-scale renewable energy, exas has allen

behind many other states such as Colorado, New Mexico,

Caliornia, New Jersey and even Connecticut in the

development o our on-site renewable energy resources.

In other words, rather than investing in centralized

ower plants many residents, commercial operations and

even some utilities want to invest in smaller,

“distributed” resources to power their homes and

businesses and save energy. For example, exas could

capitalize on the more than 6 billion sq. eet o suitable,

existing rooop area across the state, and tap into over

60,000 MWs o capacity or rooop solar energy

roduction.17

Despite a growing demand or distributed energy,

exas has yet to adopt policies that would not only help

open up the market or these resources, but eventually

roduce more jobs on a jobs per kilowatt hour basis

than investments in larger, traditional power plants.

Either at the statewide or utility level, exas should ease

registration requirements with the PUC or owners o

on-site systems, allow third-party ownership and leasing

arrangements in competitive markets, and expand solar

rebate and incentive programs.

With widespread bipartisan support, the 82nd exas

Legislature passed SB 981, which when implemented,

“Texas can tap into an estimated 4,600 MWs o potential biomass capacity inthe state and capitalize on more than22,000 potential new jobs.”




In June 2011, City Public Services announced the SanAntonio utility would retire its oldest coal-fred power

generators by 2018 and retool it as a combined cyclenatural gas plant, thereby preventing any layos or

current workers. In line with San Antonio’sMission Verde Sustainability Plan o 2009, which aimsto phase out ossil uels, improve energy eciency,

and construct a robust clean energy economy, CPSmade the move as both

a cost-eective measureto avoid $550 million in

scrubber installation andretroft costs, and to help

meet the city’s goal o a20% renewable energy

portolio by 2020.

Enter Solar San Antonio, a

local solar energyadvocacy organizationthat began its Bring Solar

Home campaign in the allo 2010 ater the

Department o Energy(DOE) designated San

Antonio as a SolarAmerica City. Tasked witha mission to introduce

homeowners to solar installation contractors and localfnancing

institutions, the program’s Executive Director LannySinkin wanted to also provide consumers with

inormation and advice about home solar units inorder to make solar more accessible to everydaypeople.

“The two major barriers were the high up-ront cost o

solar and a lack o inormation,” explains Sinkin. “ ring

Solar Home is designed to overcome both o these

barriers.”

bout 75 homes have had solar panels installed thusar, bringing a total o 0.5 megawatts o residential

solar energy to San Antonio. Local solar contractorshave earned a total o $2 to $3 million in revenue romBring Solar Home projects.

With the cost o residential rootop solar averaging

about $25,000 to $27,000, “solar PV can pay or itsel in 8 to 10 years and

last or about 25 to30 years,” explains

Sinkin. Solarphotovoltaic panels

are just one methodo capturing solar

energy. “Solar hotwater costs muchless than an electric

water heater, and itpays or itsel in less

than three years.”

In addition to a

ederal tax credit,homeowners who

install solar panelswill receive a rebaterom CPS to help

reduce up-ront costs. Sinkin worked with the Sanntonio Credit Union, as well as two local banks and

national lending institutions, which now oerfnancing or home solar installations.

They are willing to have the customer borrow thetotal amount, give them the rebate, tax credit, and

then lower the loan,” he says. “Part o what attractedthem is that we pointed out that there are 600,000

rootops in Bexar County. I only hal got involved insolar, there’s a $3 billion industry waiting to happen.”

Solar Makes CentsTransitioning to Clean Energy in San Antonio

will eliminate registration requirements or on-site

renewable energy and allow third-party ownership in

the competitive market in exas. Still, a comprehensive

net-metering policy is needed to establish air market

pricing on electricity sold back into the grid and to

allow more customers to benet rom the use o on-site

and distributed renewable energy. Already in place

in 44 states, exas’ retail electric providers, munici-

ally owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives

should adopt a strong net metering policy.18 Doing so

will provide a market based incentive or exans who

wish to install on-site and distributed generation, air

compensation or those who have already invested in

on-site systems, and more market certainty to allow

nancing and growth in the renewable energy industry.



Create Jobs by PromotingEnergy Saving Technologiesand Energy Upgrades

exas uses more electricity and natural gas than any

other state, in large part because o our large

population and huge industrial base. No energy source

is more aordable, available, or cleaner than energy

efciency and conservation. A 2007 energy efciency

requirement or utilities to meet 10% o growth led to

$100 million in savings and more than 200 MWs o

energy use reduction.19 By incentivizing and

investing in comprehensive state and local retrot

plans that target commercial, residential, and industrial

buildings, we can create thousands o good-paying jobs with access to career ladders or exas workers.

As noted in the groundbreaking 2007 energy efciency

bill H.B. 3693, exas could meet 18% o its

electrical demand through energy efciency and

demand response programs, thereby leading to the

creation o more than 30,000 new jobs.20

Create a Texas Energy Efciency and

Natural Gas Conservation Coordinating

Council to help coordinate programs,

nancing, and education across state

agencies and utilities

exas has already created thousands o jobs through

the weatherization o low-income homes, utility energy

efciency programs and state programs run through

SECO. In San Antonio, CPS Energy’s Save or

omorrow Energy Plan (SEP) is set to create and

sustain as many as 2,000 new jobs by reducing the

area’s electrical demand by 771 MWs by 2020.21

Despite this type o success in municipal areas, room

or improvement exists in opportunities to coordinate

and expand efciency programs throughout the state.

Other than individual utility programs, exas has

yet to establish a statewide natural gas conservation

program.

As considered by the Senate Committee on Business

and Commerce during the 81st Legislative Session,

exas should explore the creation o a coordinating

council on energy efciency so that programs unded

y the state, by utilities and by the ederal government

can be coordinated and made more accessible to all

exans. While eorts by the exas Legislature

unortunately ailed to create such a council in 2011,

options are still on the table to create a council through

more inormal methods.

Continue to increase the goals or the

Energy Efciency Incentive Program

exas currently requires its nine investor-owned

transmission and distribution utilities to meet goals

or energy savings and energy demand reduction

rograms, known collectively as the Energy Efciency

Incentive Programs. Te PUC recently raised the goals

to 30% o growth in demand by 2013, which should

help spur additional job creation and energy savings.

Tis change was also reconrmed by the exas

Legislature with the passing o SB 1125, which requires

the PUC and Electric Reliability Council o exas

(ERCO) to develop rules or demand response

rograms or residential and commercial entities.

However, the PUC should consider raising the goals

or transmission and distribution utilities as

recommended by a 2009 PUC report to 1% o total

demand by 2016 and 2% by 2020, putting exas in line

with what many states are already achieving.22 By

ncreasing investment in energy efciency, exas could

save at least $23 billion in cumulative energy costs over

a 15 year period, reduce air pollution rom power

enerating acilities by 20%, and make way or over

38,000 new high-paying jobs.23




Awarded with a Gold LEED Certication in 2008, the LowerColorado River Authority’s Redbud Center in Austin, exas wasbuilt using advanced green standards resulting in a 31.7% energy reduction, or almost 400,000 kWh/year savings – the equivalent o

eliminating 515,778 pounds o CO2 or taking 57 cars o the road.24

Move quickly to adopt the 2012

International Energy and Conservation

Code, and incorporate advanced building

standards or new buildings

One o the astest and most inexpensive ways to openup the market or private investment and create

thousands o jobs is to raise the requirements or

building energy codes to make sure new state,

commercial, and residential homes and buildings

are more energy efcient. In 2010, SECO raised the

state’s minimum energy code to the 2009 International

Energy Conservation Code (IECC) standard or most

buildings, and local jurisdictions have been raising

codes in response. For every $1 million o investments

n energy efcient upgrades, 10 on-site jobs will be

created in installation, with an additional 4 jobs in

materials manuacturing.25 With a new 2012 IECC

already approved by the International Code Council,

exas should aim to adopt the 2012 IECC as the

minimum standard by 2014.

In 2011, the Legislature took a good step orward by

assing HB 51 which requires SECO to develop green

uilding standards or state and university buildings.

County, city, and other local governments can urther

elevate efciency levels by taking administrative action

to ollow advanced green building standards or any

ublic buildings like courthouses, schools, and

community colleges on a building-by-building basis.

Expand opportunities to increase energy

efciency through innovative nancing

mechanisms

In this tough scal environment, state and local

overnments must work together to explore low-to-no-

cost loans and other nancing mechanisms that allow

exans to invest in energy efciency retrots to their

omes and businesses, thereby saving money overall

and helping to spur the clean energy economy job

market.26 Te State o exas currently has a program

called Loan SAR which provides low-income loans

or public building retrot projects. Te program was

recently authorized by the exas Legislature to be used

or houses o worship and nonprots.

In order to ully capitalize on the costs savings

otential o weatherization and retrots, retail electric

roviders, utilities and electric cooperatives should

explore on-bill nancing programs with local banks

and credit unions to help eliminate the up-ront costs

“For every $1 million o investments inenergy efcient upgrades, 10 on-site jobswill be created in installation, with anadditional 4 jobs in materialsmanuacturing.”



Cutting Edge Smart Grid in the Lone Star StatePecan Street Inc., a clean energy research organization, is heading up a state o the art smartmeter installation in up to 1,000 homes and 75 businesses in the Mueller Community o Austin, Texas. Funded in part by a $10.5 million Department o Energy grant unded by theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Pecan Street Inc. is a collaboration between thecity o Austin, the University o Texas, the Austin Technology Incubator, Austin Energy, theAustin Chamber o Commerce, the Environmental Deense Fund, and Mueller residents.

To help reduce peak demand and avoid the use o ossil uel-burning backup generators,customers can opt to consume electricity when prices are low by using smart meteringtechnology that communicates between the utility, the customer, and appliances at home.

This may mean delaying a load o laundry or waiting to run the dishwasher until the smartmeter inside the home shows that the demand or electricity is low.

In 2008, Pecan Street Inc. aimed to move the smart grid and renewable energy industries o Central Texas orward in order to reduce energy usage, pump money into the local economy,and create 21 t Century jobs or local electricians and other tradesmen and women.

While UT works to retain the research and development work in its labs, EDF is hoping to seeenvironmental benefts rom reduced ossil uel use. Just as important, the Chamber o

Commerce hopes that smart grid jobs and reduced energy bills will translate into moreeconomic activity in the Austin area.

o retrots. Doing so would expand the market or

efciency upgrades and allow providers to take

advantage o the potential growth in demand or

retrots and weatherization projects.

Some states, including exas, have passed

legislation to allow cities to create Property Assessed

Clean Energy Districts where energy efciency loans

can be paid back through property tax assessments.

However, PACE is currently on hold while concerns

rom both ederally-backed mortgages and other

mortgage lenders are resolved by the ederal

overnment. Federal legislation has been introduced

that may allow the PACE programs to move orward.

A licensed electrician needs access to the resident’s circuit panels (breaker boxes) inside and outside the home.



1 The Texas Blu eG reen Apol lo Pr ogram

Create Jobs by Promoting theUse o and Inrastructure orElectric and Other AdvancedFuel Vehicles, and Trains

With more than 40 million passenger, reight, medium,

and heavy duty vehicles on the road, exas continues

to be one o the world’s largest consumers o oil.

Victims to over 3.9 billion gallons o uel wasted by

sitting in trafc, or over $800 or the average commuter

in 2007, exans know all too well how bad trafc

congestion has become.27 As a direct result o vehicle

use and the related emissions, exans remain exposed

to unsae levels o air and ground-level pollution rom

gas and diesel vehicles. A 2011 report by the Uniono Concerned Scientists shows that even just a slight

increase in ozone pollution, when paired with a rapidly

growing population o children and seniors, would

present exans with $79 million to $1.1 billion in

associated health care and treatment costs.28

exas can save money, create jobs, drastically reduce

pollution, and make great strides toward being less

dependent on oil by running our vehicles on

alternative uels like electricity and non-oodbiouels, and by encouraging the reinvestment o

existing transportation unds in rail and other orms

o public transportation.

Continue to support state and municipal

conversion to electric, plug-in hybrid and

other advanced uel vehicles

exas’ economy is already beginning to benet rom

inrastructure that avors the use o 21st Century advanced uel cars and trucks. Municipal governments

in cities like Austin and Houston have begun

purchasing electric vehicles and installing “plug-in”

charging inrastructure through private sector

partnerships with companies like NRG Inc. As

inrastructure like Houston’s $10 million eVgo

charging network is put into place, exas can begin to

tap into the roughly 350,000 new jobs projected to be

created by 2030 as a result o a mass-market adoption

o electric and plug in vehicles. 9 Compared to

operating a normal car on regular gasoline, using

electricity or uel would lead to a 93% reduction in

smog-orming volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

and 31% less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.30

Furthermore, with a large auto, auto parts and

advanced battery manuacturing base, as well as a

strong supply distribution base and world class

research labs in the state, exas can become a leader

n the electrication o transportation and make great

strides toward reducing our dependence on oil,

rotecting exans rom exposure to oil and gasoline

lobal price swings, and dramatically reducing the

levels o trafc-related air pollution in our cities.

Expand incentive programs to make

going electric more aordable or all

Texans

As auto manuacturers begin to roll out more and more

electric and advanced uel vehicles, exas should

continue to incentivize the switch to cleaner

automotive technologies. By expanding the grants

rograms in the exas Emissions Reduction Plan

(ERP), which provides nancial incentives to eligible

ndividuals, businesses or local governments to reduce

emissions rom polluting vehicles and equipment,

more exans will be able to purchase efcient and clean

uel vehicles.



Furthermore, while exas previously promoted

incentives or more efcient gasoline and hybrid

vehicles, HB 3272 - passed by the exas Legislature in

2011 – modied the Low-Income Repair and

Replacement Program (LIRAP) to include a specic

$3,500 incentive or natural gas powered cars and

trucks. However, while eligibility or these new vehicles

was expanded, the program’s budget was cut by 90%,

rom $50 million per year to a little more than $6

million.

For plug-in hybrid, electric, and other advanced

uel vehicles, other options are still on the table. For

example, by developing a special time-o-use metering

program or plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle

owners, exans can plug in, take advantage o the

west exas wind that blows at night, and avoid using

electricity during peak demand periods. Combined,

this and other approaches will allow consumers to save

money by taking advantage o lower o-peak energy

rates to power their vehicles, and will also help exas

cities reduce the levels o smog-orming pollutants in

our metro areas.

Increase the investment o existing and

uture transportation unding in high-

speed rail and other public

transportation projects to improve

options and access in Texas

exas’ transportation sector is nearly 100% reliant on

ossil uels and is responsible or the majority o ozone-

creating emissions in the Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso,

Austin and San Antonio areas, as well as a signicant

amount in Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur. We

can go a long way toward reducing air pollution,

trafc congestion, and commute times by changing the

way exas invests over $8 billion per year we already

spend on road construction, maintenance, and other

transportation projects and instead invest high-quality,

aordable public transportation.31, 32

With a dwindling budget and an urgent need to

address congestion and connectivity problems, the

exas Department o ransportation should invest

a greater share o existing and uture unding in the

expansion o municipal and regional transit projects

and equitable high-speed rail systems, like those in

Dallas and Houston, and ensure consistent unding or

their operation and maintenance. While ridership has

ncreased to 20 million people as o 2008, investments

n the Dallas Area Rapid ransit system (DAR) have

helped save commuters roughly 8.8 million gallons o

asoline and helped increase connectivity in the Dallas

area metroplex.33

Not only will these kinds o investments improve

transportation options and connect our urban and

rural areas, they will help exans who decide to use

ublic transportation save as much as $9,453 a year

by avoiding the costs associated with owning a car, i.e.

ayments, insurance, uel, and parking. 4 According

to the recently released XDO Rail Plan, passengers

who use rail are 21% more uel efcient than those

using automobiles, and 17% more efcient than those

who travel by short-haul aviation – a method used




by many exans who travel or business within the

Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio

corridors.35

While continuing to invest in inrastructure

maintenance and repair, exas continues to lag behind

the rest o the nation ranking 41st in state percentage

o unding or public transportation.36 Aer taking

an important rst step by allocating unds to research

new rail construction and reight line improvements

and reassignments, we must make sure XDO uses

other Federal stimulus unds efciently and that these

investments lead to the creation o high-wage, amily-

supporting jobs or exans.

Create Jobs by Making it inTexas by Texans

While there is no doubt that exans have the

technical, economic, and resource potential to build

a cleaner, more efcient economy, a critical challenge

lies in ensuring that we do not pursue this transition

by relying on imported hardware and outsourced jobs.

In the United States, manuacturing is responsible or

70% o all private-sector research and development

spending and 90% o all American patents. 7 With a

large percentage o exans trained or working in the

manuacturing, construction, installation, operation,

and maintenance sectors, it is vital that we utilize our

existing skilled workorce to build the clean energy

products o exas’ uture.

Increased ederal investments in public

transportation and rail alone would lead to almost

42,000 new manuacturing jobs or exans over the

next six years.38 As we work to adopt policies to drive

manuacturing, research, and development in exas,

we must remember our potential to be a global leader

not only in the generation o renewable energy, but

also in the manuacturing o clean energy and

transportation systems, and their component parts.

Doing so will only help better position our state to

meet the high demand or clean energy products

nationwide.

Set aside a part o the Enterprise and

Emerging Technology unds to attract

clean energy companies to Texas, and

enorce the contracts on jobs created

in return or these incentives

Designed to assist in expediting the research,

development, and commercialization o new

technologies, the exas Emerging echnology Fund

has the potential to attract more clean energy

companies and lead to long-term job creation

throughout the state. Overseen by the Ofce o the

Governor, administrative sta should leverage existing

uidelines in the EF to ensure a greater portion o

that money is used specically to attract clean energy

manuacturing companies that guarantee good-paying

jobs.



Tus ar hundreds o millions o dollars have been

awarded to companies moving to exas, yet only a ew

grants have been successully used to attract clean

energy manuacturers. SolarBridge echnologies

received a $1.5 million EF grant in 2010 to assist in

the development o its module-integrated

microinverter and management system, which was

pivotal in helping the company continue to grow and

raise a total o $43 million in venture capital unding.

SolarBridge has now moved into volume

manuacturing and expanded its Austin-based

operations to more than 60 employees. 9

Under recent criticism or not spurring as much job

growth as originally intended, the exas Enterprise

Fund – a tool used to close deals with companies

interested in relocating to the state or expanding its

local operations – should be reocused and allocate a

greater share o grants to clean energy and

transportation manuacturing sectors. Despite the

setbacks, progress is being made. In late 2010, Jyoti

Americas was awarded $865,000 rom the EF to help

build a new manuacturing acility in Conroe, exas.

Te plant will produce high voltage power

transmission lines designed specically to transmitrenewable energy to customers. Te investment is

estimated to eventually create about 157 jobs and

enerate an estimated $34 million in capital

nvestment.40

exas is known or being a pro-business state. But

more needs to be done to capitalize on the growing

demands or renewable energy, efciency, and

advanced transportation. Te priority should be

expanding and coordinating the EF and EF with

local-level incentive programs, and enorcing

requirements that good-paying jobs are in act being

created.

Create a “Green-to-Gold” loan und at the

state level to provide manuacturers with

much needed capital

When conronted by both the constraints o the

current lending market and the high up-ront costs o

clean energy expansion and efciency upgrades,

manuacturers and business owners are burdened

with a tremendous difculty in accessing cheap capital

to help nance such projects. By utilizing innovative

nancing mechanisms such as a state-backed

Green-to-Gold revolving loan und, we can help exas

manuacturers grow their business and create

thousands o quality jobs or exans.

With smart, sound investment strategies, we can use

ublic unds to leverage much larger investments o

rivate capital and ensure that new clean

technologies are both designed and manuactured

n exas. A Green-to-Gold program would provide

revolving loan unds that could help manuacturers

mprove efciency, move into clean energy production,

or expand existing clean energy operations. Not only

would this increase the economic benets and savings

or existing companies, it would allow public entities to

leverage more resources to attract new manuacturers

to build the new technologies being developed at our

universities and research labs across the state.




As employment levels in trade, service, and

manuacturing industries continue to uctuate in

exas, it is critical that Green-to-Gold unds given to

companies come with both detailed job-creation

standards and minimum savings requirements or

energy efciency. Doing so will thereby ensure that

work paid or by the loans is perormed by contractors

or subcontractors who pay the prevailing wage and

provide adequate benets.

Promote “Buy Texas” and “Buy America”

Policies

In order to ully realize the benets o investing in

clean energy and transportation, exas must work

to capture new job growth by implementing “buy

American” and “buy exas” incentive programs that,

when combined with existing incentive programs, will

allow exans to compete with overseas manuacturers

and win jobs that provide quality wages with amily-

supporting benets. Tese policies will help guarantee

that clean energy manuacturing and other jobs unded

n part by state expenditures provide the maximum

enet to the exas economy.

In addition to these job security mechanisms, exas

should ensure that our public investments leverage

ational manuacturing jobs growth as well by

enacting policies that encourage the use o American

ron, steel and manuactured goods in all public

buildings and public works projects – similar to those

that apply to ederal dollars.

“Union apprenticeship programs havebeen training workers in the skilled trades or decades and aredeveloping new curriculum reorms to

prepare workers to implement Texas’ environmental standards in theconstruction and energy sectors.”



Oten times in Texas cities small and large, young

men and women struggle to stay in high school

as they conront challenges in lie such ashomelessness, economic disadvantage, andunplanned pregnancies. For Chris Corella, 20,and Ivon Vega, 18, the decision to complete their

education and obtain valuable job skills throughthe Casa Verde Builders green building program

was driven largely by one important actor: their22 month year old daughter Mia.

“This was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,”said Corella. “It’s important or our amily’s uture.”

A program o American Youthworks, Casa Verde

Builders (CVB) is a green jobs training serviceprogram or young adults ages 17-24 thatteaches cutting-edge, green construction

techniques. In partnership with the USDepartment o Labor and YouthBuild USA, CVB

is a nationally-recognized leader in makinggreen home construction aordable. Under the

supervision o certifed instructors, students buildenergy ecient, aordable homes in East Austinor frst time homebuyers, and learn the

construction process rom oundation to fnish.

The program, which works to produce higher

academic perormance and consistentattendance or its participants, is creating a

oundation or youth like Chris and Ivon topursue quality higher education and a bet-

ter chance at landing a good job in the greeneconomy.

“I was getting money however I could get it,”said Corella, pointing out the aordable, energy

ecient homes he had worked on in a SoutheastAustin neighborhood. “I’ve known people who

quit doing illegal things because o this program.It allows us to get our education, work, and get

paid all at the same time.”

Since 1994, CVB has trained over 1,000 Central

Texas Corps members whose work has helpedgenerate over $1,250,000 in property taxes

generated by the more than 80 green homesthey’ve constructed.

“We never really knew what ‘green’ meant beore,”said Vega. “Now it’s sort o a lie concept that is

helping us build our amily.”

Central Texas Youths Find Future in Green Home Building




Create Economic Prosperityor All and Tap the Skills andProductivity o the TexasWorkorce

With more than 55,600 exans working or over 4,800companies in the clean energy sector, exas has

established itsel as a developing mecca or the clean

energy economy.41 While a highly-skilled and

educated workorce has helped spur this growth over

the past decade, many exans have yet to gain access

to this wave as much o the state’s higher education

unds have been directed toward traditional our-year

degree programs. According to the exas Comptroller

o Public Accounts and the exas Workorce

Commission, more than 80% o all exas jobs did not

require a bachelor’s degree. Furthermore, almost 44%

o jobs paying an above-average income were depen-

dent on a workorce armed with associates degrees or

technical certicates.42

In order to address the problem o access to career

pathways, labor unions, community colleges and

workorce development councils have begun to reocus

their worker training programs to prepare current and

uture workers or jobs in the growing clean energy

and transportation sectors. Union apprenticeship

programs, or example, have been training workers in

the skilled trades or decades and are developing new

curriculum reorms to prepare workers to implement

exas’ environmental standards in the construction

and energy sectors. With the aid o Federal Stimulus

unds, new curricula have also been developed at

leading community colleges and the exas Workorce

Commission, and several exas workorce boards havealso recently stepped up with new grants and programs

to train workers.

We must continue these eorts and ensure that as we

oster exas’ clean energy economy, we guarantee that

these new jobs will be quality jobs with access to career

ladders, make career pathways accessible to all exans,

and create pathways out o poverty and into economic

prosperity.

Train Texas workers to meet the demands

o the clean energy economy

We must invest in exas’ workers to ensure they havethe skills they need or clean energy jobs at both new

and existing rms. Tere are thousands o

construction trades, manuacturing, and service sector

workers whose skills can quickly be tapped or many

jobs in the clean energy economy. Tousands more

workers – employed and unemployed – can have a

uture in clean industries i given the appropriate

training and quality access to stable employment.

Currently, about 3,000 exans work in the clean energy

training and support sector. 3

In order to grow, we must support all o the critical

components o the workorce development system

that prepare workers to thrive in clean economy jobs,

ncluding job readiness and preparatory

apprenticeship programs connected to union

apprenticeships, journey-level training, community

colleges, and community-based training partnerships.

At all steps along the training continuum, there must

be an emphasis on providing portable, industry-

recognized certicates o quality and achievement.

Career pathways that lead to high-quality, clean energy

jobs must begin with a K-12 education system that

teaches students strong literacy and math skills, oers

career technical education in green industries, and

continues all the way through exas’s world-class

university system.



Expand existing worker training anddevelopment programs

exas unds worker training programs primarily

through two programs administered by the exas

Workorce Commission. Working primarily with

employers, unions, and workorce development boards,

the Skills Development Fund provides grants to aid

workers in acquiring new skills or upgrading existing

ones in order to meet the industry demand or work-

ers. Te Workorce Investment Act, a program that as-sists low income adults, dislocated workers and youth

in learning new skills, recently provided unds to help

create the exas Wind Industry Institute in Lubbock

to train wind technicians, engineers, and even PhDs.

A third program called Jobs and Education or exans

(JE) is a $25 million program administered by the

Comptroller o Public Accounts, and includes grants to

non-prots, community colleges, and technical

nstitutes, as well as scholarships or low-income

students.44

In order to ensure that exas is ready to meet the

employment demands o the growing clean energy

and transportation sectors, unding or these programs

must be redirected toward green jobs training and

retraining initiatives.

Ensure that the transition to a clean

energy economy creates pathways out o

poverty

exas’ economic and workorce development

nvestments must create meaningul training and

employment opportunities or individuals and groups

that have historically been excluded rom the state’s

economic growth. raining programs at the state level

must create real pathways out o poverty with multiple

access points and connections to real jobs, and target

low-income and disadvantaged communities,

especially those that have been hardest hit by the

recession. Additionally, public clean energy

nvestments should include local and targeted hiring

requirements that guarantee equitable access to new

clean energy job opportunities.

Prioritize high-wage,

amily-supporting jobs

exas amilies need good-paying, sae, career-track

jobs that provide benets, retirement security, paid sick

leave, and access to on-the-job training that leads to

opportunities or advancement. Good jobs boost the

economy in ways that low-wage jobs do not, avoiding

state expenditures on public saety-net programs andbringing in additional tax revenue.45 Any state unding

to support the manuacturing or deployment o clean

energy systems should include project or responsible

contractor requirements that guarantee that workers

are paid good wages and provided ull benets, and

that local residents and those with barriers to

employment have access to job and training

opportunities.




Conclusion

We Can’t Aord Not to Implement the

Texas BlueGreen Apollo Program

Building and strengthening exas’ clean energy economy is our ticket – and that o uture generations

– to a more prosperous tomorrow. Clean energy jobs

are already growing aster than those in other sectors

o the economy, and the next decade will see rapidly

increasing global investment in the clean energy

sector.46 exas must take steps to capitalize on this

expanding opportunity or economic growth and job

creation while doing our part to mitigate the impacts

o air

pollution, gases that will impact our climate, high

water use, and natural resource destruction. We cannot

aord to miss out on these critical investments in

our uture. Now is the time to aggressively implement

the clean energy job creation strategies that will spur

the continued growth o exas’s clean energy economy.

Te exas BlueGreen Apollo Program does not require

major new investments; it requires smarter investments

and smarter policies to open up the markets. While

many o the changes called or in this program will cost

the state little to nothing, it is clear that they will boost

the state’s economy by creating good jobs and broadly

shared prosperity.

As our state leaders look or solutions to resolve our

debt crisis and nancial difculties, we must ensure

that our public dollars are reocused toward

simultaneously maximizing widespread economic

growth and improving the quality o our air and water.

Funding streams rom existing legislation, utility

programs, new loan programs oered by credit unions,

and new ederal programs have and will continue to

dramatically increase investments in clean energy, and

at the same time will help position exas to meet the

global demand or 21st Century clean energy products;

all without impacting the state’s budget.

Te exas BlueGreen Apollo Program oers a

comprehensive strategy or building the state’s

economy and creating jobs. We must transorm the

way we generate and use energy to drive demand and

capture growing clean energy investments, ensure that

we become a leader in the development o new clean

technologies, and guarantee that we capture the ull

range o economic benets promised by this growth –

both in producing clean energy systems and

components and by creating pathways into clean

energy careers.

aken together, these policies will ensure that as exas

emerges rom our nancial crisis, we build a stronger

oundation or uture economic growth and

sustainability that positions us at the oreront o the

lobal clean energy race. At this critical juncture, we

cannot aord to quit on exas’ best opportunity to

create jobs and ensure a more prosperous decade.

Working together, let’s accelerate toward a uture o

clean energy and good jobs or exas.



1 exas State Demographer, 2008 Projections, accessed at

http://txsdc.utsa.edu/tpepp/2008projections/2008_txpop-

prj_txtotnum.php.

2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions, World Resource Institute and

Google’s Public Data Explorer, Analysis rom 1990 to 2007.

3 American Wind Energy Association, 2009 Annual Report

and Solar Energy Industries Association, 2009 rends.

4 Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green

Jobs Assessment . Mark Muro, Jonathan Rothwell, and

Devashree Saha, Te Brookings Institution Metropolitan

Policy Program. 2011.

5 Te Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and

Investments Across America, Te Pew Charitable rusts, June

2009

6 Energy Efciency Investments as an Economic ProductivityStrategy or exas, John A. Laitner, American Council or an

Energy-Efcient Economy, 2011.

7 How to Revitalize America’s Middle Class with the Clean

Energy Economy, BlueGreen Alliance, 2008.

8 Clean Energy Investment Creates Jobs in Every State, Te

Center or American Progress, 2009.

9 Energy Efciency Investments as an Economic Productivity

Strategy or exas, ACEEE, March 2011.

10 American Wind Energy Association, Annual Wind Indus-

try Report, 2008, Te Perryman Group, Winds o Prosperity,

May 2010.

11 exas Renewable Energy Resource Assessment , State Energy

Conservation Ofce, 2008 Update.

12 IBID

13 A exas Solar Roadmap, Public Citizen, Environment exas,

2009, http://www.votesolar.org

14

On developing the Geothermal Energy Resource o exas, Dr.Richard J. Erdlac, Jr., January 2007.

15 “Biomass Feedstock Availability in the United States: 1999

State Level Analysis,” by Marie E. Walsh, et al, January 2000,

http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/resourcedata/index.html

16 Te Value o the Benets o U.S. Biomass Power , National

Renewable Energy Laboratory, G. Morris o the Green Power

Institute, Nov. 2009.

17 Chaudhari, M.; Frantzis, L.; Ho, .E., “PV Grid Con-

nected Market Potential in 2010 under a Cost Breakthrough

Scenario,” Prepared by Navigant Consulting or the Energy

Foundation, 2004.

18 Fix exas’ Broken Net Metering Policy, Public Citizen, by

David Power, Jan. 2011.

19 Cool exas: A 12-Step Plan For Meeting Electricity Needs…,

Sierra Club Lonestar Chapter, 2009

20 Assessment o the Feasible and Achievable Levels o Elec-

tricity Savings rom Investor Owned Utilities in exas: 2009-

2018, Itron report, 2009

21 CPS Energy Strategic Energy Plan 2007, Nexant Report: Job

Creation Eects o (SEP), 2009.

22 Assessment o the Feasible and Achievable Levels o Elec-

tricity Savings rom Investor Owned Utilities in exas: 2009-2018, Itron report, 2009.

23 Potential or Energy Efciency, Demand Response, and

Onsite Renewable Energy to Meet exas’s Growing Electricity

Needs, American Council or an Energy Efcient Economy,

March 2007.

24 For more inormation on Austin Energy Green Building

Case Studies, visit https://my.austinenergy.com/wps/portal/

aegb

25 Seizing the Opportunity (or Climate, Jobs, and Equity) in

Building Energy Efciency, J. Rogers, Center on Wisconsin

Strategy, Sept. 2007.

26 States Continue to Feel Recession’s Impact, Center on Budget

and Policy Priorities, Elizabeth McNichol, et. al., March 2011.

27 Te exas ransportation Institute, Urban Mobility Report ,

2007.

28 Climate Change and Your Health: Rising emperatures,

Worsening Ozone Pollution. Elizabeth Martin Perera and odd

Sanord. June 2011.

29 Electric Vehicles in the United States: A New Model with

Forecasts to 2030, Center or Entrepreneurship & echnology,

University o Caliornia Berkeley, 2009.

30 Impact Assessment o Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles on Electric

Utilities and Regional U.S. Power Grids, Pacic Northwest

National Laboratory, I 2007.




31 exas Department o ransportation Budget or 2010-2011

Biennium. Ofce o State Representative Joe Pickett. http://

www.dot.state.tx.us/tt/Presentations/RepJoePickett.pd

32 Smart Congestion Reductions II: Reevaluating the Role o

Public ransit or Improving Urban ransportation. odd Lit-

man, Victoria ransport Policy Institute. May 16, 2011.

33 National ransit Database, S2.1 – Service Data and Op-

erating Expenses ime - Series by mode, 2008, and Environ-

ment exas Research and Policy Center, On the Right rack:

DAR Rail Saves Energy and Protects the Environment, 2010.

34 American Public ransportation Association, Te ransit

Savings Report, May 2010.

35 exas Department o ransportation, exas Rail Plan, Nov.

2010.

36 Smart Growth America, Lessons From the Stimulus: rans-portation and Job Creation, Feb. 2011.

37 A Framework or Revitalizing American Manuacturing,

Executive Ofce o the President, December 2009.

38 Economic Policy Institute, Impact o Alternate Public ransit

and Rail Investment Scenarios on the Labor Market , E. Pollack

and B. Tiess, Oct. 2010.

39 SolarBridge echnologies Press Release, March 2010.

40 Ofce o the Governor, EF Investment Bringing More

Tan 150 Jobs to Conroe, Dec. 2010.

41 exas Renewable Energy Industry Report , Ofce o the Gov-

ernor, August 2010.

42 exas Works: raining and Education or All exas, exas

Comptroller o Public Accounts, Susan Combs. Analysis by

Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc., exas Comptroller o

Public Accounts and exas Workorce Commission.

43 Pew Charitable rusts, 2009, based on the National Estab-

lishment ime Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the

States and Collaborative Economics.

44 Every Chance Funds: Program Background. http://www.

everychanceeverytexan.org/unds/background.php

45 An Industry at the Crossroads: Energy Efciency Employment

in Massachusetts. Foshay, E. and Connelly, MJ. Apollo Alliance

and Green Justice Coalition, March 2010.

46 Te Clean Energy Economy, Te Pew Charitable rusts, June

2009.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the exas BlueGreen

Apollo Alliance Steering Committee, State

Building and Construction rades Council

o exas, SolarBridge echnologies, Solar San

Antonio, Pecan Street Inc, Casa Verde Build-

ers, IBEW District 7, the Energy Foundation,

and the Sierra Club Foundation or their

support, content contribution, and ongoing

dedication to a clean economy and good jobs

uture or exas. We would also like to thank

Co-authors: Cyrus Reed and Dave Cortez;

contributors: Mac Lynch, Chris Busch, Emily

Simone, and Michael Karlik; editors: Jerome

Collins, Ken Kramer, and Shea Smith; and

designers Curtis E. Grifn and Casey Moser.



Texas BlueGreen Apollo AlliancePO Box 1931Austin, Texas 78767

512) 477-6195

For more information, please visit:www.apolloalliance.org/ state-local/ Texas

September 2011

TexasBGApollo_20111103

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