Once it was steel, now jobs being offered in solar in Coatesville

COATESVILLE >> Coatesville was once a local industry leader, but the steel industry only employs a fraction of the employees that it once did. Communities like Coatesville are now turning to solar to grow economies.

There will be a Time to Invest in Local Solar Jobs! rally on Tuesday, July 16, at 3:30 p.m. at the Exelon Power Labs location at 157 North Caln Road, Coatesville.

The rally will spotlight what PECO, and its parent company Exelon, could accomplish if it invested some of the $1 million dollars a day in profit they gain from the region, in long-term green jobs programs. Featured speakers include state Rep. Dan Williams, Stephen Reynolds from Solar City and Alvin Herring from Family Service of Chester County.

“Working-class communities like Coatesville are being whipsawed by economic forces that send manufacturing jobs elsewhere. We need something that sends the jobs of the future our way. Coatesville needs to be part of the coming transition to a renewables-based energy economy,” said Marc Brier, a volunteer with Earth Quaker Action Team and emcee for Tuesday’s rally.

Organizers of the rally are the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT), a local climate justice, grassroots, nonviolent action group and the faithbased racial and economic justice organization POWER (Philadelphians Organized to Witness Empower and Rebuild). These organizations have been bringing their “Power Local Green Jobs” (PLGJ) campaign to Philadelphia and communities throughout PECO’s 5-county service area since 2015, calling on PECO to commit to at least 20-percent local solar by 2025, prioritizing local green jobs: https:// www.eqat.org/campaign.

More industry threatens to leave Coatesville, but there is a future in green jobs. While solar is growing rapidly among homeowners who can afford to install it, there are fewer opportunities for solar for low income residents. PECO can change that.

“We can’t cling to the past where our energy comes from oil, coal or natural gas, leaving our under-served communities to cope with pollution, chronic illness and poverty. And our electric utilities can’t cling to business as usual. It’s time for change,” said Nancy Sleator, a volunteer with EQAT and Delaware County resident.

Recent meetings between with both PECO and Exelon executives as well as PLGJ members have provided hope that these corporations are willing to listen. In the meantime, the terrible effects of climate change march on, impacting poorer communities much harder. PECO is at a fork in the road and communities like Coatesville need action now.

“This is about jobs and equity,” said Terri Burgin, the Climate Justice Fellow at POWER. “We’re talking about clean energy owned and built by the communities bearing the brunt of pollution and high unemployment. PECO has the resources and needs to come to the table to make that happen.”

“My heart breaks when I see a new industry emerging and once again redline and leave black and brown communities out of it. The opportunity is here for thousands of jobs, for improving health and equality. This is the time for PECO, and its parent company Exelon, to commit to better communities for all of us,” said Burgin.