IBEW Local 488 Features

When it comes to Electrical Work, cutting corners can cost you!

Are you a skilled electrical worker looking for fair pay, great benefits, and a secure future? We are actively building a highly skilled workforce to partner with our top-tier contractor base—and we want you on our team. Your employers often join associations—like the ABC, CECA, SAA, or IEC—to protect their company’s best interests. Doesn’t it make sense to join an organization dedicated to... more ...

Industry and IBEW News

Changing US Power Grid Has Risks

https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/blog/risks-in-a-changing-u-s-power-grid/

A UPenn Kleinman Center policy blog identifies five key risk categories reshaping the US grid: locational congestion, temporal price uncertainty, volume variability from renewables, extreme weather tail risk, and flawed regulatory design, as demand from AI data centers and electrification accelerates.

Solar and Wind Reach Record 17% of US Power Generation

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/03/23/solar-and-wind-reach-record-17-of-u-s-power-generation-in-2025/

Per a new EIA report, wind and utility scale solar generated a record 17 percent of US electricity in 2025, up from less than 1 percent in 2005. Utility scale solar rose 34 percent year over year, while combined wind and solar reach 19 percent when residential installations are included.

IBEW Calls for Scrutiny of Skydance-CBS Layoffs, Proposed Merger

https://www.tvtechnology.com/business/ibew-calls-for-scrutiny-of-skydance-cbs-layoffs-and-proposed-cnn-merger

The IBEW called for transparency and regulatory scrutiny following a second round of CBS News layoffs and plans to shut down CBS News Radio, warning that a proposed merger of CBS News with CNN raises serious questions about the future of union broadcasting jobs.

Paramount to buy Warner Bros Discovery in $110B Deal

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/warner-bros-signs-110-billion-deal-with-paramount-ends-bidding-war-with-netflix-2026-02-27/

Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal, ending a bidding war after Netflix withdrew its offer. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2026 pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

OpenAI Bets on Union Labor to Scale AI Infrastructure

https://www.axios.com/2026/03/11/openai-building-trades-union-data-centers

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a formal partnership with North America Building Trades Unions at a BlackRock infrastructure summit, committing $1.5 million over five years to support NABTU training and recruitment as the company projects it will need 20 percent more skilled tradespeople than currently exist to hit its 10 gigawatt compute target by 2030.