Southeast

• Accelerating clean, renewable energy and grid modernization
• Expanding job-creating, consumer bill saving energy efficiency efforts
• Improving resilience and climate risk mitigation solutions to protect vulnerable communities and businesses
• Modernizing and electrifying our transportation system

Clean economy industries have grown exponentially in the Southeast over the last few years. As shown in E2’s 2020 Clean Jobs America report, North Carolina and Virginia were ranked among the top ten states in the U.S. for clean energy employment; and there’s still room to grow.

While North Carolina is No. 2 in the country for installed solar energy, the state is also exploring increased investment in wind. By committing to the expansion of wind-generated energy, states like North Carolina and Virginia, which recently passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) requiring electricity to come from 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2050, are encouraging new avenues for jobs in manufacturing and the rest of the supply chain throughout the region.

In 2018, E2 released an Offshore Wind analysis that evaluates the industry’s economic potential in five eastern states, including in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The report shows billions of dollars in economic benefits could be reaped in the Southeast by harnessing the power of offshore wind.

Our Clean Jobs North Carolina report was released in 2020 and shows how clean energy accounts for 52% of all energy sector employment in North Carolina, with wind energy, grid modernization and storage technologies being the fastest growing sectors in the state at the end of 2019. The report details how North Carolina has clean energy jobs in every county and ranks #9 in the nation for clean energy employment, with 25% of  those clean energy jobs employing rural North Carolinian workers.

With Southeast states facing disruption from ever-increasing, severe climate events like hurricanes, rising temperatures, flooding and drought, E2 released a video on The Clean Economy & North Carolina, outlining the economic cost of climate change in relation to the economic benefits of clean energy and climate action.