The new EV jobs couldn’t come at a better time. Thanks to the pandemic, 2020 saw historic American unemployment rates peaking in April and recovering to just 6.7 percent unemployment as of November. But with a slow vaccine rollout and surging infection rates, prolonged long-term high unemployment rates are expected. Clean energy jobs have been […]
Renewables are now on track to surpass coal as the largest source of electricity in the world by 2025, according to a November report from the International Energy Agency. And in the U.S., the latest outlook from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration is bullish on wind and solar, which along with hydropower and other […]
The 11th hour funding stimulus and spending package from Congress includes some bright spots for clean energy and climate action as we round out an otherwise dark year. It couldn’t come soon enough. American workers and companies are struggling — including those in the business of making our homes, buildings and electricity supplies cleaner. Since the start of […]
Gov. Jay Inslee wants Washingtonians traveling in greener vehicles and burning less carbon over the next two years under a $427 million plan to fight climate change. The governor’s climate plan includes $230 million for electrifying buses, ferries, and new charging stations for electric vehicles. Inslee’s office says this will save the state $14 million […]
JOBS REPORT: At the current rate of recovery, the clean energy sector will take three years to return to employment levels seen before the pandemic hit, according to a new report this morning. Clean energy companies added the fewest number of jobs last month since unemployment peaked in May, according to the analysis by BW […]
November’s meager additions to clean energy employment continues a steady but slowing pattern of growth in the six months since the industry’s low point in May of more than 620,000 jobs lost. The report notes that “Black and Hispanic workers continue to suffer from disproportionately high levels of unemployment” as compared with their white counterparts. […]
The economy has lost more than 450,000 jobs in clean energy and energy efficiency since the pandemic began, even after employment increases in recent months, according to data released Wednesday by E2, E4TheFuture, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and BW Research Partnership. In Virginia, the RMI and Energy Innovation scenario forecasts the addition of […]
**This memo has been revised and is available here. The numbers presented in the original Dec. 8, 2020 memo are based on data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Dec. 4, 2020. An update to that data was made by the BLS in the Feb. 5, 2021 Employment Situation report** Clean energy […]
**This memo has been revised and is available here. The numbers presented in the original Dec. 8, 2020 memo are based on data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Dec. 4, 2020. An update to that data was made by the BLS in the Feb. 5, 2021 Employment Situation report**
The U.S. clean energy sector added 7,900 jobs in November, leaving 446,000 clean energy workers out of work since February of this year – a 13 percent decline over pre-COVID-19 employment levels, according according to the latest analysis of federal unemployment filings prepared for E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), E4TheFuture and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) by BW Research Partnership
While the nation’s overall jobs recovery has stalled over the last several months, the clean energy sector has been particularly slow. Concerns raised in memoranda from prior months continue, including record-breaking levels of new and continuing unemployment claims and the exhaustion of many programs from earlier stimulus.
While November represents the sixth straight month of job growth for the industry after three months of devastating job losses, seven out of 10 clean energy workers who lost their jobs since the beginning of the crisis remain out of work. With November’s meager job growth, employment in clean energy — once the nation’s fastest-growing job sector — has grown by less than half a percent four of the last five months.
Clean energy businesses created about 190,000 new jobs nationwide from 2018-2020, and employers projected more than 175,000 jobs would be added in 2020 heading into the year, according to the 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report (USEER) employer survey. But at the rate of recovery seen since June, it would take about three years for the clean energy sector to reach pre-COVID employment levels and an additional 14 months to reach the levels of clean energy employment projected for 2020 before the pandemic struck.
At the start of 2020, nearly 3.4 million Americans across all 50 states and the District of Columbia worked in clean energy occupations, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, grid modernization, clean vehicles and fuels.
| Sector | March | April | May | June | July | August | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Total |
| Energy Efficiency | -103,298 | -309,584 | -18,880 | +71,786 | +6,836 | +8,116 | +8,354 | +16,806 | +5,400 | -314,464 |
| Renewables | -23,739 | -71,705 | -4,272 | +17,287 | +1,918 | +2,571 | +2,273 | +3,965 | +1,348 | -70,356 |
| Clean Vehicles | -11,399 | -35,070 | -2,059 | +10,335 | +896 | +2,182 | +965 | +1,615 | +646 | -31,889 |
| Grid & Storage | -6,517 | -19,666 | -1,166 | +4,561 | +428 | +482 | +510 | +1,042 | +336 | -19,990 |
| Clean Fuels | -2,186 | -10,390 | -657 | +2,351 | +296 | +205 | +378 | +409 | +150 | -9,445 |
| TOTAL | -147,139 | -446,416 | -27,035 | +106,320 | +10,373 | +13,556 | +12,479 | +23,838 | +7,880 | -446,144 |
| State | Total Losses | Percent of Clean Energy Workforce |
| California | 74,929 | 13.6% |
| Georgia | 26,440 | 30.6% |
| Florida | 23,636 | 14.1% |
| Michigan | 22,456 | 16.9% |
| Texas | 20,160 | 8.2% |
| North Carolina | 17,898 | 15.6% |
| Pennsylvania | 17,133 | 17.6% |
| Washington | 16,963 | 19.0% |
| Ohio | 14,565 | 12.6% |
| New York | 12,846 | 7.8% |
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, download the full analysis here.
The analysis expands on data from the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. The report was released in March 2020 and is available at www.usenergyjobs.org. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fifth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016 and subsequently abandoned under the Trump administration.
If you are looking for additional insight into this report or E2’s more than a dozen other annual clean energy employment reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]).
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As the state’s economy looks to recover from COVID-19, the clean energy industry provides an opportunity to both hasten our recovery and address other urgent challenges North Carolinians face, including racial inequity, job growth, job quality and climate change.
As the state’s economy looks to recover from COVID-19, the clean energy industry provides an opportunity to both hasten our recovery and address other urgent challenges North Carolinians face, including racial inequity, job growth, job quality and climate change.
Statements from seven businesses and organizations opposed to HB 6233 LANSING (December 7, 2020) – At the very end of this year’s lame-duck session, Michigan state lawmakers are quietly considering a reckless new bill that directly prohibits the promotion, sale, and servicing of electric vehicles (EV) in Michigan by EV manufacturers – a blow to the […]