On Friday, October 16, Keep the Lights On! Washington coalition member ANEW co-hosted its 2026 Building Forward Workforce Development Summit with COMTO Washington. The summit brought together Puget Sound employers, labor, public agencies, and workforce development organizations.
The theme of the summit was building safe, healthy, and resilient workforces. Coalition member Jupiter Power sponsored the event as an Equity Champion, and Hans Detweiler of Jupiter Power joined the panel “Developing the Next Generation of Leaders” to talk about leadership development opportunities in the energy sector.
The conversation comes at an important time for Washington. As electricity demand grows and the state works toward its clean energy goals, the need to build new energy infrastructure is increasingly urgent. Expanding clean energy generation and battery storage will require a skilled workforce to build and maintain the infrastructure our communities will depend on.
Projects like Jupiter’s Cascadia Ridge battery storage project near Snoqualmie will create construction jobs and apprenticeship opportunities, the kind of career pathways ANEW has spent more than 40 years opening for women and others underrepresented in the trades.
We’re proud to recognize ANEW and its partners for their continued work to strengthen Washington’s workforce and help prepare the next generation of skilled trades professionals.
Jupiter Power’s Hans Detweiler speaks during the “Developing the Next Generation of Leaders” panel discussion