Protecting Renewable Energy and Spotlighting IBEW in Hollywood

With the clock quickly winding down on the 2026 Legislative session in Sacramento, CSAEW has been busy this past month advancing important safety goals that keep our members and the public safe. As taxpayers, we also are interested in ensuring that the cost of these large infrastructure projects being built are fairly shared.  And finally, we are highlighting our highly skilled members of IBEW 40 in Los Angeles who work in the entertainment industry, supplying Disney and other Hollywood studios with the much-needed power and expertise to run their productions.

Several hundred IBEW members converged on Sacramento earlier this month to lobby our lawmakers on behalf of our 104,000 skilled and highly trained electricians around the state on the need to continue funding renewable energy projects, including battery storage, climate change legislation, offshore wind and more. Data centers were also top of mind in our discussions with our elected officials as our organization works to ensure ratepayers don’t shoulder a disproportionate share of the costs. You can read about our legislative priorities below.

Our IBEW International convention is coming up next month in San Diego, where representatives for our 900,000-plus members around the country will decide the organization’s leadership and union priorities for the next several years including, but not limited to, energy sources, construction safety and members’ mental health. We will have more to report on the convention next month.

I also want to give a shout out to our members and their local unions giving back to their communities. Many of our locals are participating in school supply drives, collecting backpacks, notebooks, pens and more for underserved students and their local schools. In addition, locals are also participating in breast cancer fundraising and awareness walks through the Susan G. Koman More Than Pink Foundation. The organization has already raised more than $927 million to help fund a cure for breast cancer. You can find out more information here.

As always, I am honored to help lead this powerful organization, committed to the safety and livelihood of its members.

Stay safe and cool in this summer’s heat. And be sure to stay involved.

In solidarity,

Neal Lauzon 
President CSAEW