Energy Generation Facility Labor Standards Fact Sheet and Technical Resource Guide

If the facility meets the definition of an assisted project under § 1304 (1-A) and the repairs or retrofitting are necessary to the continued generation, storage, or transmission of energy, that work will be subject to Maine’s prevailing wage.

Satisfying the IRA’s apprenticeship ratios allows energy project developers to qualify for the full value of specific federal tax credits/deductions allowable under the law. A lower benefit amount is available to developers that don’t satisfy those requirements.

Apprenticeship ratios in the IRA and § 3502 are different. § 3502’s apprenticeship requirement, developed before the IRA, refers to the percentage of all persons employed. The IRA refers to the percentage of labor hours, along with a ratio and participation requirement. Employers must satisfy the requirement in § 3502 and can decide separately whether to meet the IRA’s three apprenticeship ratios to qualify for the full value of the relevant tax credit/deduction.

Whether a project is subject to Davis-Bacon is a completely separate question from whether it must meet the IRA’s thresholds. Employers must pay Davis-Bacon rates to qualify for the full value of IRA credits or deductions, but employers wouldn’t be obligated to comply with Davis-Bacon as a whole unless the project is otherwise subject to it.

Employers seeking tax credits or deductions under the IRA must also comply with Maine’s laws on:

• prevailing wage, if it’s a public works or assisted project under § 1304; and
• apprenticeship laws, if the project meets the energy generating facility definition outlined in § 3501.

§ 1306 provides that the prevailing wage rates in effect at the time the contract was signed will apply for the life of the contract.

MDOL does not permit energy generating facility projects. MDOL partners with permitting agencies to monitor and enforce compliance.

Before starting the construction project and before starting each phase of the construction project, a construction employer must submit a written plan to BLS for locating and employing enough qualified apprentices. Construction employers must be continuously looking for and hiring qualified apprentices until they meet the necessary threshold.

When each phase of the construction project is completed, the employer must submit to BLS an interim report about the results of its efforts to employ qualified apprentices. If the employer didn’t hire any or enough qualified apprentices, they must include a clear explanation why.

When the entire project is complete, the employer must submit a final report to BLS. That report must also include a clear explanation if they failed to hire enough qualified apprentices during the entire project.

There is no specific form that construction employers are required to use, though MDOL provides the following template that is available for use:

Download the Template (Word)

A construction employer can meet the requirements of this law by:

• Becoming a registered apprenticeship sponsor or sub-sponsor;
• Hiring a subcontractor who participates in a registered apprenticeship program; or
• Explaining to BLS how they made a reasonable effort to employ qualified apprentices but there were none or not enough available.

See the 1-pager here for more information: Registered apprenticeship 1-pager

“Reasonable efforts” means trying to meet the requirement until uncertainty about success makes it commercially unreasonable to proceed. “Reasonable efforts” also means not taking steps to deliberately avoid meeting the requirement. “Reasonable efforts” to find and hire qualified apprentices includes, but is not limited to, contacting the Maine Apprenticeship Program (MAP) and sponsors of apprenticeship training programs such as labor organizations and employers with a presence in Maine. Under the law, these efforts must be ongoing. This means a single call or email to an apprenticeship program will not be enough.

Employers must document, in writing, their plan and efforts to find and hire qualified apprentices and send it to BLS according to the schedule described above.

Yes. Apprentices working on a job site in Maine can reside in other states and still be counted toward the required percent of employees.

No. The apprenticeship program does not need to be approved in Maine.

It is acceptable for the apprentices to log additional hours outside of the state of Maine.

No. Certified pre-apprenticeship does not satisfy the apprenticeship requirement.

Yes. For instance, if 100 people were employed on a construction project begun before 2025, 10 apprentice electricians, or 5 apprentice laborers and 5 apprentice electricians, or any other combination of 10 qualified apprentices, meets the 10% requirement.

All apprentice-able occupations must be included in determining the number of people employed in the construction. As explained in 26 MRS 3201(2), an apprentice-able occupation is a skilled occupation that:

• is typically learned practically through a structured program of 2000 hours per year of supervised on-the-job learning;
• is clearly identified and commonly recognized through an industry;
• involves specialized skills and knowledge that require a minimum number of hours as directed by the schedule of on-the-job work experience; and
• requires related instruction classes to supplement on-the-job learning.

Construction is considered to begin with the very earliest phase of an operation to physically construct a facility. This includes preparation of the site, putting up fencing and other protective structures to secure the site, transport of materials to the site, and maintenance of the site.

It depends. Youth under the age of 18 are prohibited from some hazardous occupations, as outlined in the Employers Guide to Youth Employment. Registered apprentices age 16-17 may, under certain circumstances, work in a limited way in hazardous occupations.

§ 3213 requires that certified pre-apprenticeships:

A. Meet the requirements of § 3213 and any rules adopted by MDOL;

B. Have a documented outreach plan to increase registered apprenticeship opportunities for underrepresented, disadvantaged, or low-skilled individuals and members of historically marginalized communities;

C. Conform to standards identified by the United States Department of Labor for a quality framework for pre-apprenticeship;

D. Comply with state and federal law regarding equal employment opportunity in apprenticeship and training;

E. Have a training program and curriculum based on industry standards and approved by the Maine Apprenticeship Program, upon recommendation by the Maine Apprenticeship Council, that will prepare individuals with the skills and competencies needed to enter a registered apprenticeship program;

F. Have supervised hands-on training and workplace safety training; and

G. Have a formalized agreement with a registered apprenticeship sponsor that enables pre-apprenticeship graduates to enter directly into a registered apprenticeship program and includes articulation agreements for earning credit for skills and competencies already acquired.

If you are already a registered user in CMS, go to step 2.

1. Navigate to the Maine Public Utilities Commissions CMS page
2. Fill in the fields, considering the following:
   • Required fields are denoted by red asterisks;
   • User IDs must be at least 8 characters long and cannot have spaces;
   • Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and must include numbers, at least one upper case letter and at least one special character;
   • The first Company/Organization field is the company you work for (which may not be the company you represent for this reporting purpose)
3. The Representing Company/Organization field is for the company you represent.
   • To populate your profile with the companies that you represent, click the “Add” hyperlink. The window allows you to add criteria to shorten the list to select from or you can jump to your company if you enter the first few letters of the company name. Check the box next to the company(ies) you wish to add and click on the select button.
   • For companies that are not Maine-jurisdictional utilities, choose “Other” and “Other” as the Industry Type and Subtype, and search for your organization. If it is not present, call the Commission at (207) 287-3831 or email at maine.puc@maine.gov to request that your Company/Organization be added.
4. After submitting your registration, you will receive an email notification with a hyperlink and instructions. If you do not receive this email, please check your junk mail for an email from MPUC-CMSnotification@maine.gov. You must go to the hyperlinked page and confirm your registration. (If clicking on the hyperlink does not work in your email system, copy and paste it into your browser’s URL field to go to the confirmation screen.) Once this is done, you will be registered to submit documents into the CMS.

1. Navigate to CMS and sign in
2. Hover over “Project/Report Files” in the left-hand navigation bar and select “Submit Project/Report”



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• Complete all fields marked with an asterisk.
• Enter “[Insert Company Name] [Month Year] Wage Records” as the “Title of Filing.”
• Select “WAGE RECORD OF CONTRACTORS PURSUANT TO 26 MRS SECTION 1311-WROC” as the “Report/Project Type.”
• The “Report/Project Year” field may be left blank
3. Click on “Attach Documents”
   

   

   • Click “Choose File” in the pop-up window and select the document you wish to submit. Click “open” then click “Done.”
   • Repeat this step for each document required.
   • Please be sure that each file submitted is named such that it can be easily identified.
   • You will see a list of all attached documents. You may delete any document prior to submission by clicking the red “x” next to the attachment.
4. After all documents have been attached, click “Submit."
5. You will receive a confirmation email from CMS that your submission has been made.
6. You may supplement your submission by hovering over “Project/Report Files” on the left-hand navigation menu and selecting “Supplement Project/Report.” You will need the tracking number provided in the confirmation email.