New workers, funded by 2021 infrastructure law, are expected to work on issues like improving efficiency of batteries to store energy from wind and solar farms and expanding capacity of transmission lines
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department confirmed on Thursday it will hire 1,000 employees to become part of a new Clean Energy Corps using funding authorized in last year's bipartisan infrastructure law.
The Clean Energy Corps will include the new workers and existing staff from more than a dozen agencies across the department to work on developing, demonstrating, and deploying solutions to climate change, the DOE said in a release.
"This is an open call for all Americans who are passionate about taking a proactive role in tackling the climate crisis and want to join the team that is best positioned to lead this transformative work," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a release.
Reuters reported last year that the law's $62 billion in funding would allow the department to hire 1,000 workers and boost investments by the most since its founding in 1977.
The new workers are expected to work on issues such as improving efficiency of batteries to store energy from wind and solar farms and expanding capacity of transmission lines to take that power from rural areas to cities. The work is expected to support President Joe Biden's goal of cutting U.S. carbon emissions up to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030.
The department is collecting resumes through an online portal https://www.energy.gov/CleanEnergyCorps.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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