Plumbers are Betting Green Energy will Start Producing some Black Ink

Plumbers green energy

MERIDEN, Connecticut - Scott Antosik, a member of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 777, owns a South Windsor plumbing business and is readying himself for what lies ahead.

"I'm expanding into solar thermal," Antosik said. "When consumers start to embrace solar, as a union business owner it's important for me to know any labor resource pool is equipped to meet the demand."

Antosik returned to the Local 777 training center on Murdock Avenue and is among the first 74 members to graduate with certification in solar thermal installation.

On Wednesday, Antosik shared his experience at a dedication ceremony for the center's new solar training equipment, to be used in a new solar thermal course offered by the union and the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee.

With the state and U.S. economies bracing for a possible double-dip recession, the promise of green jobs of the future might seem to have given way to any job right now. Skilled laborers statewide and nationally have found slim employment opportunities as residential and commercial building have slowed considerably.

But on Wednesday, representatives from the apprenticeship training committee, the union and the new Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority heralded the arrival of solar and renewable energy technology as not only a cost saver, but a job creator.

The equipment consists of a series of collection tubes and heating units connected to a hot water system. The authority, a quasi-public agency that replaced the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, paid $22,069 to purchase the solar heating equipment to help the union train more certified solar thermal installers.

Tags: 

Related Blog Articles: 

Add new comment