Portland Adult Education was awarded $416,179 to bolster its renewable energy pre-apprenticeship and bridge programs by adding heat-pump and thermal-focused trainings. The organization plans to use the funds to prepare up to 150 people for jobs in the clean energy industry.

Including Portland Adult Education, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office awarded a total of $2 million to be split among six programs in the state: Maine Math & Science Alliance in Augusta, Biddeford School Department and Biddeford Adult Education, Oxford Hills and Nezinscot Adult Education, PassivhausMaine in Freeport and the University of Maine in Orono.

“These targeted investments will connect Mainers across the state to high wage careers in the clean energy field,” said Laura Fortman, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor.

The Portland Adult Education program is geared specifically toward people with barriers to employment, including unemployed or underemployed non-native English speakers, women and other marginalized groups.

These grants, made possible through federal funding, will be administered through the Clean Energy Partnership, an initiative working with many sectors to expand Maine’s clean energy industries. The partnership has awarded two prior iterations of grants for clean energy workforce development: $2.9 million to nine programs in 2022 and $1.3 million to three entities in 2023.

Currently, there are more than 15,000 clean energy jobs in Maine, and according to a report from the Governor’s Energy Office, that number is increasing faster in Maine than in any other state in New England. The report detailed that clean energy accounted for $2.3 billion of Maine’s economy in 2022.

“New clean energy projects are cutting energy costs, reducing harmful emissions, and creating good paying jobs for Maine people,” Gov. Janet Mills said.