Landmark agreement creates renewable energy opportunities for UWUA

James Shillitto, President of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 in New York City, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the landmark agreement with Attentive Energy One. Shillitto also talked about the new training program and upgrades the agreement will provide.

Local 1-2 serves the New York metropolitan area with over 7,400 members. The work to keep the lights on in the “City That Never Sleeps,” requires Shillitto to regularly recruit new members to the Local. There are multiple types of energy used to supply the New York energy grid, with fossil fuels and steam being the two most used sources. As New York transitions to renewable energy, Shillitto said he is ensuring his members are ready and able to handle the work and keep the city lit. 

Attentive Energy One, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and Rise Light and Power companies, has created a landmark agreement to make the Ravenswood Power Plant run on 100 percent renewable energy. This agreement will use all the workers in the Ravenswood plant and train them to take over the work following the transition. The energy will be created using a new offshore wind farm located approximately 54 miles off the coast of New York in the Atlantic Ocean. The agreement made Ravenswood the first plant to transfer its workforce to renewable energy producers in the United States.

The agreement also creates a new training program for UWUA Local 1-2. This program will include expanding and retrofitting their current training facility, along with an educational track to transition the current fossil fuel workers to renewable energy producers. Not only will this program assist in the UWUA’s transition to renewable energy work, but it will provide an overflow to assist the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers with the ability to train on renewable energy work. Shillitto believes this agreement can potentially turn Ravenswood into the epicenter of the renewable energy transition for New York.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more.