Veterans in Advanced Energy Profile: Timothy Crowder

Timothy Crowder, a 2021-2022 Veterans advanced energy fellow. click the button below to learn more about the fellowship.

Timothy Crowder, a 2021-2022 Veterans Advanced Energy Fellow, served in the US Navy as an Electronics Warfare Technician before studying sustainable energy systems. Today, he is helping to expand the availability of solar energy across Illinois, and says that the United States needs to increase domestic panel manufacturing to reduce reliance on foreign imports. His advice for other veterans? Making connections within the veteran community is key. As told to Jordan Bekenstein

Why did you join the military and what was your role?

I graduated high school and decided to take a year off before figuring out what I was going to do next. During that year off, I did a little bit of work and hung out with friends, but after a year, it was time to decide. My brother had joined the Navy two years prior, so I reached out to him to see how it was. He said it was good—he sounded more mature, he seemed to have grown a lot over the two years that he was in, and I wanted the same for myself—so I followed in his footsteps. 

I enlisted in the military as an undesignated deck seaman, meaning I didn’t have a specific job. I decided I wanted to be an Electronic Warfare Technician (EW) at the time of my E-4 advancement exam. EW technicians repair and maintain certain electronic pieces of equipment on the ship and also analyze radar signals and help assess platform types. One year after starting that job, EW merged with CTTs (Cryptologic Technician Technical) so technically I changed jobs because I was now a CTT and not an EW.

I had an opportunity to serve with multiple commands during my time. I was on the destroyer USS Howard and did maintenance on the SLQ 32. After that command, I went to Naval Station Great Lakes before being stationed with VAQ-139, which is a squadron attached to the USS Ronald Reagan. The squadron itself is stationed out in Washington State, but the USS Ronald Reagan is in San Diego. I got to deploy with them right towards the end of my time in the service. 

How did the military influence your career trajectory into energy?

As an Electronic Warfare Technician, my job was working on electronics. After I got out of the military, I moved to a small city outside Chicago called Rockford, Illinois and started going to a local college for a degree as an electronic technician. While working on that degree, Rockvalley College started a partnership to create a dual-degree course to receive your electronics degree as well as a sustainable energy degree. During that process, I realized it was the field I wanted to be in. From the first course on weatherization to the LEED and renewable energy courses, it made perfect sense that this was where I needed to be.

What are you most excited about in advanced energy developments, and what are you most concerned about?

Illinois just passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), which sets Illinois on a path to 100% clean energy by 2050, so I am very excited about the next phase of that. I’m excited for the implementation portion of it. Now that the bill has passed, we need to create specific plans that will allow us achieve those goals.

I’m concerned with supply issues. The program I work with is called Illinois Solar for All. We have incredible renewable energy credit prices for approved solar vendors to obtain if they are able to install and energize new systems. However, there are supply issues around solar panels. The tariffs on solar panels from China play a big part, but there are factories all over America that can produce solar panels. If we want to get ahead of the supply chain issue, we need to be building the supply for solar here at home now so we’re ready to install. 

Why is energy important to US national security?

Fundamentally, it’s all about being able to produce the energy that we need domestically so we can continue to do the things we do. When there are barriers that can reduce our output as a nation, we need to be able to address those issues. If we’re dependent on foreign oil or solar panels coming from China, we need to address how we can better self-sustain ourselves. We need to be more independent when it comes to energy so we aren’t taken advantage of by other countries and bad actors who want to put us at a disadvantage. When we look at how the energy supply is expected to shift away from fossil fuels in the next few decades, this means investing in domestic renewable energy manufacturing like wind and solar here in the United States.

Do you have advice you would like to share with other veterans?

Look for ways you can connect with other veterans who have been out of the service a bit longer than you if this is your first year out. Definitely connect with your local colleges to speak with veterans who have been out longer than you. Sometimes just having a conversation with somebody who has been in a similar situation as you can be a big help. For older veterans, build on relationships—find other, newer veterans or people who have recently gotten out of the military, and see if you can offer a supportive hand of mentorship. Help them navigate through the real world, because the Navy and the military is a whole other world. Coming back to the civilian world does get challenging—it is difficult. Try to make yourself a resource to someone else.

What are you most looking forward to about the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship?

I have a policy that I would love to see implemented, and I’m looking forward to working on that initiative during the Fellowship. It isn’t a national policy, it’s local to Illinois. I’d love to see it implemented because I feel that it would help some of the hardest-hit veterans, those veterans with disabilities at 70-100%. I would like to see what we can do as Illinoisans to help improve their energy security and reduce some of their energy burdens. Opening up Illinois Solar for All to those veterans would be a big help.