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Clean Jobs Illinois 2014

Clean Energy Trust, in partnership with other organizations including E2, presents a report based on a survey of Illinois clean energy firms, seeking to better understand employment in the sector.

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Clean Jobs Quarterly | Q4 2013 and Year-in-Review

More than 78,600 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in 2013 at 260 projects tracked by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).

Solar power generation was the year’s top sector with more than 21,600 jobs announced.1 Other strong sectors included building efficiency (12,500) and public transportation (11,400). Job announcements were made in 46 states, with California’s roughly 15,400 jobs topping the list. California was followed by Texas, Hawaii, Maryland and Massachusetts.

This is the second full year E2 has tracked clean energy and clean transportation job announcements. Over the past two years combined, E2 has tracked announcements that could create more than 186,500 jobs.

Last year’s job announcements were about 30 percent lower than 2012. While this is in part due to our job tracking methodology,2 clean energy job growth also faced economic headwinds in 2013. These headwinds came from the continued low cost and volatility of natural gas as well as market uncertainty due to attempts by renewable energy opponents to roll back favorable policies at both the federal level and in numerous states. For example, fossil fuel industry supporters attempted to roll back renewable energy standards in states such as North Carolina, Kansas and elsewhere, while at the federal level, the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and numerous energy efficiency tax incentives were left to expire at the end of 2013.

Looking at the fourth quarter alone, E2 tracked more than 70 projects nationwide that could create 13,000 jobs. Spikes in wind manufacturing and solar manufacturing added to the quarterly total, as did announcements from Southwestern states, responsible for nearly 40 percent of the jobs announced during the final three months of the year. The top five states for clean energy job announcements in the October-December period were: Texas (about 3,300 jobs), Arizona, New York, California and Iowa.

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Clean Jobs Quarterly | Q1 2013

In the first quarter of 2013, E2 tracked more than 50 project announcements that could potentially lead to more than 12,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs. Announcements were made in more than 20 states in communities ranging from Charlotte, North Carolina, to California’s Central Valley. These job announcements came in sectors as diverse as agriculture, manufacturing, and power generation.

The growth in clean energy and clean transportation jobs is reflective of what Americans say they want: A Gallup poll released in the first quarter of 2013 showed that more than 70 percent of Americans want more emphasis on clean technologies, including solar and wind power.

In many states, project announcements came despite concerted, politically motivated efforts to repeal renewable energy portfolio standards, which require utilities to get a portion of their energy from clean, renewable sources. E2’s findings indicate that portfolio standards work: Nine of the top 10 states that led the country in clean energy and clean transportation job announcements in the first quarter have renewable portfolio standards.

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