Back in 2011, Rae-Anne Wadey became something of a green energy pioneer, when she enrolled in the inaugural year of NAIT’s Alternative Energy Technology program. At the time it was a bold leap—and one she almost didn’t make.
Wadey grew up on a sod farm and had been working as a lifeguard in Edson. “I was 19 and I was looking for something to do and my dad was harassing me to go to school.” One day her dad clipped a newspaper article about NAIT’s new program focusing on green energy.
Although Rae-Anne wasn’t thrilled with her job, she also wasn’t eager to drain her bank account to invest in tuition.
Rae-Anne Wadey was in the very first Alternative Energy class at NAIT. Here she is with Dr. Jim Sandercock (program head) and Brandon Sandmaier, fellow grad. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Buy a diesel truck or study alternative energy
“I saw an ad for a diesel truck in the Sobeys in Edson and I really wanted that truck. I ultimately made the decision to go to school and learn about solar instead of buying a diesel truck,” she laughs.
Rae-Anne working on a solar battery storage project at Pigeon Lake, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca
These days, Wadey works as a solar installer, designer, and electrician for Generate Energy. It’s a high-demand job, in one of our province’s rapidly expanding sectors.
Back in 2013, however, with their leading-edge diplomas in their hands, Wadey and her fellow graduates had a hard time finding jobs. “Companies didn’t know what to do with us,” she recalls.
Jim Sandercock, chair of the NAIT program, remembers those days all too well. “An H.R. rep would get these resumes and go, ‘Is this an electrical engineer? No. Is it an electrician? No. Oh, I don’t know what to do with that one—chuck it in the garbage can.’”
Rae-Anne studied alternative energy ahead of its time–today her skills are in demand.
NAIT Alternative Energy program ahead of its time
As a grad of NAIT’s first Alternative Energy class, Wadey had hoped her diploma would be a golden ticket—but, upon graduation, she found herself scrounging for a job. At some doors, she was told they weren’t interested in renewables. In traditional trades jobs they seemed leery about hiring a woman in a male-dominated field.
Eventually, Wadey heard that the recycling depot in Edson was about to install a solar system—one that she had worked on the previous summer with NAIT instructor and solar pioneer Gordon Howell.
Firing off resumes wasn’t cutting it, so she found out when the solar installers were coming to town and showed up at the job site.
Shows up, scores job
“I just said, can I help? And he let me help. I helped for the week and then I got asked if I wanted to come to the city for three weeks to help there. And then, ‘Well, actually, do you want to come for the whole summer?’ I ultimately worked there for five months that summer, installing solar—and I was apprenticed as an electrician.”
That company was Great Canadian Solar, a successful Alberta start-up. That seasonal job gave Wadey the opportunity to work on some of Alberta’s most iconic solar projects, including the striking solar array that completely covers the 70-foot fly tower atop the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Canmore.
She also worked on Western Canada’s largest rooftop solar system, on the Leduc Arena.
Work sucks – solar is cool
“A megawatt of solar on a rooftop is really cool looking. It’s just a sea of solar. It kind of sucks putting it on,” she says. Its repetitive work: “You kind of hurt all the time. But then ultimately the result, in the end is just this sea of solar. And it looks so cool—especially when you can stand out in the middle of it and take a picture.”
Since scrambling for a job Rae-Anne has worked on some of the most iconic projects n Alberta, such as the Leduc Recreation Centre, the largest roof-top solar system in Western Canada. Photo Great Canadian Solar
When Wadey started her training at NAIT she says she wasn’t dreaming about getting into solar; it was just something to do. But, her passion for solar has grown.
“Once that solar is up, it’s up, and it doesn’t pollute. It’s up there for 20, 25 potentially even 30 years. It’s just there. It’s producing clean energy from the sun, and it makes me feel really good to be a part of that.”
Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio feature
Sandercock is thrilled to see his program’s first graduates thrive.
And Wadey noticed a big change in the last few years. “Seven years ago, companies didn’t know what to do with us. And now you’ve got big commercial electrical companies getting into installing solar, and they’re, like, ‘Oh you can design solar? Okay, yeah, we’ll hire you.’”
These Alternative Energy grads are now part of a growing renewable energy industry. Wadey is not only a renewable energy expert, she’s a journeyman electrician––she can design, sell and install solar systems. She’s also one of the most experienced solar installers in Alberta.
Wadey recently joined fellow NAIT grads Brandon Sandmaier and Jeremey Frentz at Generate Energy, a company they founded while studying at NAIT. The two-year-old company has joined the Vital group of companies and that company has added 43 staff in the last year.
NAIT Alternative Energy grads are now highly valued, sought-after workers. “I think in the next five to ten years we’re actually going to see the Alternative Energy Program NAIT needing to be rebranded— because it won’t be alternative energy; it’ll just be business as usual,” says Sandercock.
This Faces of the New Economy story is a joint project with the David Suzuki Foundation and part of the Charged Up Series. Learn more about The New Energy Economy on an interactive map.
