Major corporations, in general, have historically had a bad reputation for paying workers fair wages. However, as the way the world works changes, that age-old challenge could be getting an overhaul too.
Between climate change and the COVID pandemic, the world is changing rapidly and dramatically — and for the better, too. The worldwide transition to green energy is changing the way businesses operate, and what they prioritize; while the pandemic dramatically changed the way people work and what they prioritize.
The intersection of these global shifts, coupled with the United States’ new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) seem to spell fantastic news for current and future workers in renewable energy — particularly wind and solar.
A new study by non-profit organization BlueGreen Alliance suggests that this could be the first time employers could have a major reason to pay workers well beyond just saving face in public.
The Fair-Wages Payoff
The BlueGreen Alliance group has been a strong advocate for unionization of green jobs and workers’ rights in the sector. As the IRA marked one year since its introduction just a few weeks ago, the group commissioned researchers at ivy league institutions Dartmouth College and Princeton University to look into how the act could impact the wind and solar industry, specifically. This study found that, remarkably, “the Inflation Reduction Act offers wind and solar developers an airtight business case to use U.S.-manufactured components and pay workers fair wages.”
“It has always been the right thing to do, now it’s also the most economical thing to do.”
- BlueGreen Alliance
How Fair Wages Benefit Employers and Workers
According to the research, wind and solar companies can save through paying fair wages because of tax cuts they can reap if they meet certain employment criteria set out in the IRA. That’s great news for people who work in wind and solar industries, and for those looking for jobs in those fields.
BlueGreen Alliance explained, “Wind and solar developers can significantly cut costs by meeting prevailing wage and apprenticeship criteria in the clean energy tax credits…
“To receive the full value of the clean electricity tax credits, developers have to pay construction workers a prevailing wage and utilize a certain percentage of registered apprentices in the projects.”
When an onshore developer meets these standards, their cost of producing renewable energy power drops a huge 60% and an offshore developer can save 20%.
“Any additional project costs associated with meeting these labor standards are more than offset by the full credit,” BlueGreen Alliance confirmed.
This means that companies have more than enough reason to operate in a way that benefits themselves AND their highly-skilled employees.