MCE has partnered with solar developer Cenergy Power to build what will be the largest publicly-owned solar project in the Bay Area, MCE Solar One. The 60 acre, 10.5 MW ground mounted solar farm in Richmond, CA will support 341 jobs and provide power for 3,417 homes per year.
The City of Richmond and MCE committed to a 50 percent local hire requirement to build MCE Solar One, guaranteeing local benefits through clean energy job creation. Representatives from the City of Richmond, MCE, Cenergy and RichmondBUILD met last week to announce the local labor plan.
The following subcontractors have been formally shortlisted to work on the MCE Solar One project, expected to employ workers for an estimated 69,000 hours, with 60 percent or more expected to be provided through union labor, and 50 percent or more through local labor.
“In today’s economic climate where many struggle with the rising cost of living in the Bay Area, MCE is committed to helping retain the diversity of our community by supporting the development and training of our local talent,” said MCE CEO Dawn Weisz. “The Bay Area has a rich history of industrial labor and we believe those jobs can continue to thrive as they evolve into the cornerstone of California’s new, green economy.”
MCE also funds programs that provide local, working class residents with green collar job opportunities beyond the minimum wage economy that pay living wages and provide benefits. One such program that MCE partners with, RichmondBUILD, will train and hire local residents to provide labor for MCE Solar One. Cenergy Power’s CEO, William Pham, echoed similar sentiments:
“The Solar One project will be a showcase of MCE’s commitment to local communities in its service area, and we are looking forward to working with the City of Richmond and our local workforce on this project.”
Beyond MCE’s local efforts, the 2,800 in-state jobs and 1.2 million union labor hours provided by its 24 new California renewable energy projects have built the structures that will help the state reach its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. The increased demand for non-polluting, renewable resources that MCE and its sister agencies are creating not only impact our environment for the better, it truly changes lives every day.
