A labor day message from IBEW Pres. Kenneth Cooper to Our Members and their Families!
IBEW Detroit Local 58 member Bill Baisden joined Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a May 16 press conference announcing the first U.S. Canada electric vehicle corridor.
The corridor is a critical link in the network of 500,000 charging stations that President Biden has repeated publicly that IBEW members will build.
Baisden, owner of Dynamic Electric Group and a journey- level electrician, spoke about the exploding renewable energy market after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Cars have always been... Read More
A powerful new tool providing real-time updates about federal infrastructure investments will be key to IBEW's efforts to win the billions of dollars in new work opportunities approved by these recent laws.
The searchable database gives users the ability to find out about project announcements. This includes loans and grant money resulting from :

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Read More)
The Inflation Reduction Act (Read More)
The CHIPS and Science Act (Read More)

 which are disbursed through federal and state governments.
“We are always asked: how do I know what projects are... Read More
IBEW members are central to the new economy due to the future-forward policies championed by the Biden- Harris administration.
Called the Investing in America agenda, a companion high-level administration roadshow highlights recent laws like the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
President Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reinforce how the laws promote good jobs, domestic manufacturing and economic development – and highlight their critical partnership with the IBEW.
Debating Pythagoras... Read More
The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office aims to put thousands of IBEW members to work.
On June 13, the IBEW Government Affairs Department convened a meeting with DOE LPO Director Jigar Shah and IBEW employers to discuss LPO’s billions of dollars in loan opportunities, all with the goal of creating more IBEW jobs.
“Our goal is to move the energy industry forward,” said Austin Keyser, assistant to IBEW President Kenny Cooper for Government Affairs. “No organization has a better relationship with the administration.”
Long-standing good relations between the Biden-Harris administration and... Read More
An 18-year wait for a permit on a construction project sounds like a long time. But at least the Trans-West Express Transmission project was finally approved last month – and 700 IBEW members will soon be on the ground building its high voltage transmission lines across four states.
But the Grain Belt Express, a proposed 800-mile project in the Midwest that IBEW members and project developers publicly teamed up to support back in 2015, still awaits its go-ahead.
The problem? Gaining the necessary approvals to build transmission lines is so tricky that projects that would employ thousands of... Read More
Congressional leaders and President Biden continued negotiations to break through a deadlock over spending priorities and policy changes demanded by House Republicans over the debt ceiling, as time ran out before a June 1 government default.
The IBEW urged Congress to lift the U.S. debt limit as the high-stakes standoff threatened to upend the economy only days before the federal government ran out of money.
Failing to suspend or increase the debt limit would have dire effects on IBEW members’ livelihoods and all working Americans, IBEW President Kenneth W. Cooper said in... Read More
IBEW's skill and experience are critical to the Biden administration’s efforts to remake the electric grid in Puerto Rico.
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has visited Puerto Rico four times, most recently in late March. She met with IBEW members, including Orlando, Fla. Local 222 Business Manager Bill Hitt and Local 787 Business Manager Joel Flores Cruz, who represent hundreds of members, including lineworkers working to modernize the island’s transmission and distribution system, which has been devastated by hurricanes in recent years.
 
The Energy Department is... Read More
Syracuse Local 43 member and contractor Shawni Davis featured prominently in the presidential announcement on constructing a massive Micron computer chip plant in upstate New York.
 
“Because of the commitment to domestic microchip manufacturing in the CHIPS Act, this plan represents rebirth,” Davis said in her introduction of President Biden. “Rebirth of American innovation, of American-made silicon chips that are the heart of so many devices we use daily. It means hope for the future and good paying construction and manufacturing jobs for years.”
 
Micron Technology’s announcement... Read More
Arlington, Texas, Local 220 member Samran Khampeth, a Siemens breaker plant foreman, attended a high- level White House meeting.
Vice President Kamala Harris convened the small event on March 10 with former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, IBEW President Kenny Cooper and Assistant to the IBEW President for Government Affairs Austin Keyser. It marked two years since the Biden-Harris administration created the workforce organizing task force and also marked Walsh’s last official appearance as labor secretary.
Co-chaired by Harris and Walsh, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and... Read More