It seems odd, in Texas we are considered a right-to-work state, unions are not a powerful entity as in a number of other states. You will find most Union Electricians, at least here in the North Texas area, work for cities and larger corporations. Due to the huge military-aerospace industry in Fort Worth and Dallas most large mil-contractors (think Lockheed Martin) only use Union workers. This includes Electricians. >From this perspective, I don't see a lot of union power concentrated in Texas. But the IEC is very active in the balance of the state among retail and commercial scale Electrical Contractors. So I guess I don't understand the caution by TREIA in their dealings with the unions. Bob's right, there is plenty of work for everybody. So is the Texas union lobby being coached by IBEW members from outside the state? I guess considering the history of unions in the US I would not be surprised to see a power grab. Jim Duncan
----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Maynard To: RE-wrenches Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 6:47 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas We had a lot of resistance from the unions. I remember testifying before a Senate hearing and there were just three of us from the industry speaking for the creation of the license. The unions had at least 6 paid lobbyists speaking against it. In the end we prevailed when a Senator asked the union lobbyists for specific details of their renewable energy training programs and they had none in place! To help bring peace, we put together a 10kw project with the local utility to be installed on the State Capitol. We handed it to the unions to install and coordinated it with a professional pv training course. The thing to remember is this industry is going to grow so fast, there will not be enough solar electricians to do all the work and we need the manpower of the traditional electrical industry to help deploy all the solar yet to be installed! Regards, Bob Maynard VP NW Distribution Sales groSolar What the World Needs. NOW 535 NE Westbrook Way Grants Pass, OR 97526 Direct: 541.291.4044 TollFree: 800.467.6527 x4044 Fax: 541.476.7480 Mobile: 541.761.1636 groSolar.com http://blog.groSolar.com North America's Premier Installer, Distributor and Integrator of Solar Energy Solutions Distributor for Evergreen Solar, Suntech Power, SMA, Fronius, PV Powered, Outback Power, GridPoint, UniRac, Heliodyne SHW and other premier renewable energy products From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of North Texas Renewable Energy Inc Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 3:17 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas Having watched enviously for years as other states put PV incentive programs into place, I have seen the opposition from the electrical unions and large electrical contractors, especially in California. What sort of friction did Oregons licensing procedure experience compared to California? Jim Duncan North Texas Renewable Energy Inc 817.917.0527 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ntrei.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Maynard To: RE-wrenches Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 4:50 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas Jim, In Oregon we have a Limited Renewable Energy Technician license. We are capped at 25kw and can do residential and commercial. The LRT license does not allow us to make final AC connections on any system and requires a site visit from an electrician. Regards, Bob Maynard VP NW Distribution Sales groSolar What the World Needs. NOW 535 NE Westbrook Way Grants Pass, OR 97526 Direct: 541.291.4044 TollFree: 800.467.6527 x4044 Fax: 541.476.7480 Mobile: 541.761.1636 groSolar.com http://blog.groSolar.com North America's Premier Installer, Distributor and Integrator of Solar Energy Solutions Distributor for Evergreen Solar, Suntech Power, SMA, Fronius, PV Powered, Outback Power, GridPoint, UniRac, Heliodyne SHW and other premier renewable energy products From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of North Texas Renewable Energy Inc Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:45 PM To: RE Wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas Wrenches the Texas Dept of Licensing and Regulation has (finally) proposed a Limited Solar Electric License for installers in Texas. There is currently no "solar license" in Texas. Among other fairly arbitrary and borderline ridiculous potential requirements (IMHO) is a 50 kWDC cap on the size of systems allowed, based on inverter rated output. Also the license holder may not work on commercial installations. Are these typical of the license restrictions in other states? thanks Jim Duncan North Texas Renewable Energy Inc 817.917.0527 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ntrei.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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