Illinois has a bright future now that Governor J. B. Pritzker has signed into law the nation’s most comprehensive and progressive clean energy legislation – the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). Not only does it set some of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the United States, but it also charts a path to ensure energy equity and diversity as a cornerstone to building our clean energy future.
It is easy to speak in generalities about why this legislation is so vital to Illinois – and America. Let me give you a few concrete examples, painting a picture of the future this bill promises my community and the entire state.
For the past decade, I spent my career as a community organizer, supporting and paving the way for first-generation Black and Latinx families from Southeast Chicago to go to college. It was not easy, but I have been able to carry that fight and passion to my new role as a residential solar program manager at the nation’s leading residential solar company, Sunrun. Solar energy has allowed me to keep fighting to lift up people in my community to live better lives, while expanding my own career opportunities. My story is one of many that has been positively impacted by the expanding rooftop solar industry. Here is how it happened:
I was selected to participate in the Chicago Urban League’s solar training program, training supported by the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA). That training, as part of the Illinois Solar for All program, allowed me to launch my new management career at Sunrun.
Illinois Solar For All is part of FEJA and provides funding for solar training to help people move into new solar careers. Since the program began, Illinois has added over 2,000 new solar jobs (including mine), and 80% of the Solar for All job trainees have careers placements.
Home solar benefits people who hurt the most from environmental injustices (e.g., lower air quality from Petcoke dust in Southeast Chicago or higher energy financial burdens). Choosing to put solar panels on your roof and generate your own clean energy is not only environmentally responsible but it creates access to wealth by helping you manage your electricity bills. We need to lift up our communities through empowerment, activism, and ownership. That is my goal in my current solar role: connecting those who are just trying to make ends meet to solar energy, which will result in immediate and long-term bill savings.
We are just getting started. And with the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, the Illinois Solar for All
program will grow and boost training opportunities, continuing to build a strong and diverse solar workforce. I applaud our state leaders who supported and passed this historic legislation. We can lift up our communities, bringing more better-paying jobs and stable careers. We have a real opportunity to create wealth and opportunity for ourselves, right here in Chicago. Let’s get to work.
Bejeray Morrison joined Sunrun’s dynamic team in 2019 as the Solar For All Program Manager. For over a decade, Bejeray served as an educator and college counselor in the South Shore community, where her passion for the environment inspired the development of green clubs and associated activities, including a community garden. Now, Bejeray is a solar advocate who spreads awareness around living green and clean with renewable energy. She believes households who choose to put solar panels on their roof to generate clean energy are environmentally responsible and economically wise. This choice inspires wealth creation and has the potential to make right past environmental justice wrongs. Bejeray is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended Ladue High School and earned a prestigious Presidential Scholarship to attend Loyola University in Chicago. At Loyola, Bejeray received a Bachelor of Science double major in Elementary Education and History, with a Minor in Black World Studies. She earned a certificate in Solar Photovoltaics from the North American Board of Energy Practitioners at the Chicago Urban League. She is also a member of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Birdwatchers out of the Chicago Audobon Society. Most of all, Bejeray is the proud mother of a freshman at Whitney Young High School.
