Los Angeles County is in the midst of a historic transition towards a zero carbon, climate resilient future. As the county accelerates this climate transition, it is imperative that investments and opportunities flowing into the region benefit current workers and promote the success of future generations of workers.
Building decarbonization has been identified by the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Air Resources Board (CARB), and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as a core strategy to achieve California’s long-term climate goals. The State of California has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels by 2045. A 2018 California Energy Commission report presented a cost-effective and relatively low-risk pathway—the High Electrification scenario—to achieving California’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, featuring high-efficiency heat pumps as a central component. In California, Governor Newsom has called for the creation of three million climate-ready and climate-friendly homes by 2030 and seven million by 2035, supplemented by the installation of six million heat pumps by 2030, with 50% of investments designated for low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Electricians, sheet metal workers, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians are the workers at the forefront of this building decarbonization transition. Despite their crucial role in implementing electrification measures, many of these workers still face economic instability borne from fluctuating union coverage of workers in the skilled trades and uneven local policies regulating job quality. Electrifying California’s homes will take 26,000-39,300 full-time residential electrification retrofits workers per year from 2020–2045. As demand for electrification work increases due to new policies, mandates, and disaster response efforts, Los Angeles County needs to grow the electrification workforce, ensuring that workers are equipped with the necessary skills, guaranteed health and safety protections, and positioned to earn a living wage.