Creating opportunities to help build our local workforce and foster economic growth is what fuels DTE. this summer, we expanded our Energy Efficiency Academy to west Michigan, hosting an upskilled training for professionals already working in the clean energy sector. The advanced training is a part of an ongoing effort to close the gap in demand for local skilled-trade hires, by addressing the need for new opportunities for professionals already working in the energy efficiency industry, to specifically support the declining housing stock. 10 students graduated from our advanced training workforce program, earning an average passing score of 88% and above across all key certifications including Building Analyst, Building Performance and Healthy Housing Professionals. By gaining the certifications and technical knowledge needed to accelerate into high-performing clean energy roles, graduates can look forward to beginning work within the state of Michigan’s weatherization assistance programs and expand into lateral roles such as crew leaders, energy assessors and project coordinators among other high-demand leadership roles.
Manish Joshi took an interest in the program to become more informed about home performance and increase his knowledge of healthy home best practices. He plans to utilize his learnings by helping extend the life of customer’s homes through weatherization. “The Energy Efficiency Academy gave me the ability to increase my knowledge about healthy homes and building performance by learning how to analyze homes for energy efficiency, comfort and occupant health,” said Manish Joshi, graduate of the Energy Efficiency Academy. “The combination of in-class and field work made the training highly effective. The enthusiasm and commitment of the group helped to foster a deeper learning experience.”
We’ve invested more than $2 million in energy efficiency workforce development programs since 2023. Following the success of our Muskegon training, we will be launching a second, Detroit-based training later this month. The Energy Efficiency Academy is the newest in several workforce training programs we’ve partnered on including:
- Detroit-based Tree-Trimming Academy (TTA) and Parnall Prison Tree-Trim Training
- Detroit Summer Youth Internship Program
- Power and Trades Pathways Program with Henry Ford College
If you would like to learn more about the Energy Efficiency Academy, visit empoweringmichigan.com/EEAcademy.