Voices of Energy: Virginia McGrath

Energy auditor for Conservation Consultants Incorporated

Amy Sisk

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Amy Sisk reports for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR member station. She comes to Pennsylvania from another energy-rich state, North Dakota, where she told stories from coal mines, wind farms and the Bakken oil patch for Inside Energy and Prairie Public Broadcasting. Amy's stories often air on NPR, including those from the eight months she spent following the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. A reporting trip to the Bakken during its boom years sparked her interest in energy. Ever since, she's covered the industry -- from the way it is regulated to its influence on policy to its impact on people and the environment.

Amy Sisk / StateImpact Pennsylvania

May 16, 2018 | 4:49 PM

More than 2 million people work in energy efficiency across the United States. It makes up the largest sector of the nation’s clean energy workforce.

Virginia McGrath has held one of these jobs for three years. She’s an energy auditor for Pittsburgh’s Conservation Consultants Incorporated.

“I think the energy efficiency field has made a transition,” she says. “Instead of saving energy and saving money, we’re talking about making a home safer and more comfortable. I think that resonates with people more.”

McGrath inspects all sorts of homes — from ones more than a century old to new ones. Lately, she has spent a lot of time working in a subdivision of the Butler County borough Mars.

Listen to McGrath share her story as she inspects one of these newly built houses:

Voices of Energy is an ongoing series that cuts through the rhetoric surrounding energy to feature people who work in all aspects of the industry. Check out the other parts of the series, including a feature on a field supervisor who responds to hazardous materials incidents, and a consultant who works in western Pennsylvania’s solar industry. Do you know someone who would make for an interesting profile? Contact Amy Sisk at asisk@wesa.fm.