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Pay for Success Clean Energy Training in New York

Public Sector Solutions, Workforce & Economic Mobility

Highlights

$8.2MOutcomes-based funding project for clean energy job training

660

New Yorkers will train for clean energy jobs

The Pay for Success Clean Energy Training project is an $8.2 million partnership between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), developed with support from Social Finance and MDRC. Under the project, NYSERDA will fund clean energy job training and supportive services for more than 660 New Yorkers, including the long-term unemployed and low-wage workers. Training partners will offer participants:

  • Technical training and credentials, focusing on heat pumps, HVAC, or electrification.
  • Career pathways to sustained economic mobility, including soft skills training and job placement services.
  • Wraparound support services, such as case management, transportation or financial assistance, and referrals to other community services.

This project is the first award under the Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA), which supports state and local governments to implement outcomes-based financing. If the project demonstrates an increase in participants’ earnings, Treasury and USDOL will provide up to $7.1 million in outcomes-based payments to NYSERDA. The award also includes a $1.1 million grant for an independent evaluation of the project, conducted by MDRC.

NYSERDA is committed to advancing the state’s transition to a green economy and meeting the ambitious climate equity goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which seeks to ensure that disadvantaged communities receive at least 40% of the benefits and spending of climate action programs. This project specifically aims to eliminate barriers for these communities to access quality jobs within the clean energy sector.

Goals

  • Increase employment and earnings of low-wage earners who may experience barriers to employment.
  • Support the clean energy economy by building a pipeline of qualified workers that meets the needs of clean energy employers.
  • Build community capacity for quality workforce training programs by facilitating participants’ access to critical social services and wraparound supports.
  • Reinvest in clean energy workforce development using the project’s outcomes-based payments.

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How It Works

America is facing profound economic and climate crises. The President has called on us to ‘seize the opportunity that climate change presents,’ and that’s what this grant does: it shows we can help workers and transition to a net-zero economy at the same time.

Janet L. Yellen

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

Sec Janet Yellen Headshot

Partners and Supporters

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