Where are Renewable Energy Jobs? Green Careers (Part 2 )

City Rising

On this Episode of City Rising, we take an in-depth look into the green job landscape, the future of work and the climate action workforce. Special guest Emily Schapira is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA), and she provides insight into her work with the Philadelphia Energy Campaign and how she merged her passion for a substantial energy-related problem into an impactful career path. If this is your first time tuning into City Rising, go back and listen to Episode 1 with Dan Smolen to hear another perspective on the climate workforce.

Tune into this episode to learn:

• How to enter into a career in renewable energy and sustainability.
• Who are the stakeholders and leaders involved in creating clean energy jobs?
• What types of jobs are out there?
• The price of solar energy in Philadelphia
• What companies are hiring in renewable energy right now
• Are federal tariffs affecting the growth of solar panels?
• Details on Philadelphia’s big sustainability goals
• City-wide initiatives for clean energy jobs and training.
• Philadelphia Energy Campaign and the $1Billion investment

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About Emily Schapira:
Emily Schapira is PEA’s Executive Director and current Vice Chair of the board. Emily joined PEA as an employee in June 2016 to execute the Philadelphia Energy Campaign, a $1 billion, 10-year initiative to advance energy efficiency and clean energy across Philadelphia, while creating over 10,000 jobs. Emily has been a PEA board member since 2010, as the City Council appointee.
Before joining PEA full time, Emily was Director of Global Accounts for the Lighting category for WESCO Distribution, a Fortune 500 electrical supply company. Her focus was on developing portfolio-wide energy efficient lighting upgrades for large commercial, industrial and institutional customers. WESCO acquired Emily’s previous company, Aelux, in 2015 where Emily served as Chief Operating Officer, managing sales, marketing and operations teams, and VP of Marketing and Business Development since 2012. Aelux was a lighting and controls retrofitter serving both small and large businesses and a variety of government and institutional clients across North America.
Prior to joining Aelux, Emily worked on sustainability for Verizon and Intel, and started and ran the Wharton School’s Sustainability Program, based in Wharton’s facilities management group. Emily’s efforts focused on operational eco-efficiency and behavior change, and supported LEED certifications and attempts across the Wharton portfolio, earning the first LEED for Commercial Interiors certification at Penn. Emily also spent five years running a consumer heating oil co-op in Philadelphia and advocating for low-income energy assistance at the federal, state and local levels.

About the Philadelphia Energy Authority
In 2010, Council President Darrell Clarke and Mayor Michael Nutter launched the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) as an independent municipal authority. City Council established the Philadelphia Energy Authority to provide targeted expertise and focus on Philadelphia’s efforts to reduce energy consumption and expense. Under its founding ordinance, PEA is authorized to facilitate and develop energy efficiency and energy generation projects, to purchase or facilitate energy supply and energy services on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, government agencies, institutions, and businesses, and educate consumers.

Resources from today's episode:

• **Philadelphia Energy Job Board**
• Find Your Power’ Jobs Training Program, Overseen by PEA, Receives $100,000 From PECO
• CBS Video
• Philadelphia's Greenworks Program

Season One of City Rising is supported by the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP). Visit www.CUSPproject.org for more info.

For more information on City Rising, visit greenphillyblog.com/podcast.

Email your feedback and questions to [e-mail].