By Jacob Alvarez, Program Manager, Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) & Inland Regional Energy Network (I-REN)
The Inland Regional Energy Network (I-REN), which is a coalition of the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG), San Bernardino Council of Governments (SBCOG), and Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG), connects the workforce and regional stakeholders to essential energy resources. As the region experiences a population boom and a projected 20% growth in energy sector jobs by 2030, creating sustainable, high quality career pathways is more urgent than ever. To meet this demand, I-REN released a comprehensive Energy Workforce Gaps Assessment to identify training barriers, established robust quarterly Workforce Roundtables to align regional stakeholders, and invested three million dollars to partner with Riverside and San Bernardino counties to train 180 local individuals for high-demand energy careers. Through expanding 2025 milestones like live Spanish language training simulcasts, youth STEM partnerships reaching thousands, the scaling of the I-REN Energy Fellowship Program to 32 Fellows assisting in driving millions in potential energy savings, I-REN is actively transforming regional insights into immediate, inclusive, and lasting economic impact.
Identifying Regional Needs and Training Pathways: The Energy Workforce Gaps Assessment
In early 2024, I-REN released a comprehensive assessment, the Energy Workforce Gaps Assessment, which highlights the Inland Empire’s growing energy sector needs and identifies gaps that require increased collaboration amongst regional workforce entities. The gaps assessment is composed of three main components: a regional energy industry analysis, an energy employer survey, and a regional training assessment. The key findings of the assessment reveal that over 100 institutions offer 363 training pathways; however, access to training and support services remains challenging for community members.
The final recommendations outlined in the assessment provide a foundation for the enhancement and development of energy workforce training resources and pathways:
- Connect job seekers to training providers
- Provide support services to make training and certification more attainable
- Strengthen the regional education and training pipeline from K-12 to energy employment
- Strengthen collaboration between employers and workforce development organizations to assess training effectiveness
Creating a Regional Dialogue: Workforce Roundtables
Throughout the development of the Energy Workforce Gaps Assessment, regional workforce stakeholder input was essential in gathering real-world and relevant insights on the struggles faced by regional entities that contribute to the energy workforce pipeline. Training institutions, workforce organizations, employers, and job seekers are an essential component of our regional workforce ecosystem. These various institutions contribute to the success and collaboration that is essential in providing job seekers with the proper support and resources to obtain employment.
In an effort to receive direct feedback from our regional partners and local workforce entities, I-REN began hosting workforce roundtable discussions, intended to inform participants on the developments of the workforce gaps assessment and regional workforce programming as a whole. The workforce roundtables are hosted quarterly, mostly in person, within each I-REN sub-region (WRCOG, SBCOG, CVAG). So far, roundtable participants consist of local city staff, community leaders, small business owners, I-REN partners, and many others who contribute to essential dialogues that advance energy workforce development and provide the perspectives of the audiences and communities they serve.
Fellowship visit to San Bernardino Valley Community College.
Funding Solutions and Launching Pathways
As a result of the workforce gaps assessment, I-REN has partnered with Riverside and San Bernardino counties, awarding each county $1.5 million to enhance and develop energy-focused training pathways. These targeted investments are designed to provide 180 individuals with free or low-cost training, support services, and employer networking over two years to bridge the regional skills gap. Early progress is already visible in Riverside County, where 20 participants including veterans and women, are training across ten local cities for high-demand role in renewable energy, welding, engineering, mechanical fields, and HVAC. Three participants have already completed training, with one successfully employed and two actively interviewing.
In addition to regional energy workforce development, I-REN launched the I-REN Energy Fellowship Program in 2023, which employs emerging professionals with local public agencies for an 11-month period. The Energy Fellowship Program supports capacity-building for local organizations in the energy sector.
2025 Milestones: Expanding the Table and Scaling Impact
Building on our foundational work from 2024, I-REN programs expanded and developed deep program synergies throughout 2025. The final recommendations of the Energy Workforce Gaps Assessment were officially affirmed and prioritized by the I-REN Workforce Roundtable and Executive Committee. Rather than letting this data sit on a shelf, I-REN used these insights to forge formal partnerships with both the Riverside Workforce Development Division and the San Bernardino Workforce Development Board. This cross-agency collaboration is on track to provide 180 local individuals with direct access to energy-related training opportunities, no-cost certifications, and employer engagement over a two-year period.
Our regional dialogue also expanded tremendously in 2025. I-REN hosted a total of 10 working group roundtables across our three unique subregions (Coachella Valley, Western Riverside County, and San Bernardino), bringing together 56 active participants from 45 distinct organizations—including local cities, chambers of commerce, utilities, and training providers—to align regional efforts and prevent the duplication of resources. Additionally, in partnership with the Inland Empire Desert Regional Consortium (IEDRC), we hosted the 2025 Energy and Infrastructure Sector Showcase, drawing more than 180 attendees to discuss breaking down systemic barriers and accelerating local workforce training initiatives.
We also achieved groundbreaking milestones in inclusivity and youth engagement this past year:
- Breaking Language Barriers: In September 2025, I-REN became the first Regional Energy Network (REN) in California to offer a live Spanish-language simulcast of its building code and technical trainings, providing equitable professional development to a vital segment of our local workforce.
- Inspiring the Next Generation: Through our continued partnership with the Science and Technology Education Partnership (STEP), I-REN supported STEPCon events that reached 5,100 students, 200 educators, and 100 counselors across the Inland Empire. We also sponsored the I-REN Energy Science Fair Awards, recognizing student innovation in solar efficiency, clean energy, and sustainable design.
The I-REN Energy Fellowship Program: Building Capacity and Driving Real Savings
Launched to address critical capacity barriers, the I-REN Energy Fellowship Program continues to be a cornerstone of our workforce development efforts by placing emerging professionals within local public partner jurisdictions. Historically, many public agencies across Riverside and San Bernardino counties have lacked the staffing and technical resources required to monitor energy data, identify efficiencies, and comply with evolving statewide climate mandates. I-REN Energy Fellows directly bridge this gap, providing essential organizational support for energy building benchmarking, climate action planning, and building code initiatives.
The program’s expansion and real-world impact over the last two years highlight this success:
- 2024 Momentum: In 2024, I-REN deployed 14 Energy Fellows across the region. By early 2025, these fellows were actively coordinating and supporting 26 distinct energy efficiency projects across 12 different public agencies within our Cash for Kilowatts incentive program queue. These initial projects represented an estimated annual utility bill reduction of $272,867, over 1 million kWh in annual energy savings, and accounted for nearly 40% of all public sector pipeline incentive dollars.
- 2025 Scaling and Synergy: Moving into 2025, the program experienced remarkable growth, scaling up to place 32 Energy Fellows within public sector host sites. This expansion created an intentional cross-sector synergy, with fellows providing direct, hands-on support to both Public Sector and Codes & Standards regional resources.
By embedding these emerging professionals directly within local operations, the fellowship has successfully accelerated the public sector project pipeline by bolstering agency staff capacity. To date, the municipal upgrades identified and actively supported by I-REN Energy Fellows have helped position local public agencies to capture substantial long-term benefits, averaging almost $7.4 million in lifetime utility bill reductions and unlocking more than $2.1 million in potential financial project incentives upon completion. Currently, I-REN recently closed the host site applications with the Fellowship application closing soon. Based on what we have received to date, we anticipate the next Fellowship cycle will grow significantly.
For more information about economic development in Greater Palm Springs, please contact:
Sean Smith
Director of Economic Development
sean@LiveWorkGPS.com | 760.969.1308
