Archives

Summary:

In 2020, the number of clean energy jobs in America fell for the first time since E2 began tracking nationwide employment across the entire clean energy sector in 2015. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic contraction and the lingering impacts of policies from the previous administration that encouraged fossil fuels over clean energy, nearly 307,000 jobs were lost in wind, solar, energy efficiency and other clean energy sectors.

About 3 million Americans worked in clean energy at the end of 2020, down from 3.36 million the year before, according to the analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data and the findings of a national survey of more than 30,000 businesses across the U.S. economy.

• Jobs in energy efficiency, the biggest part of the U.S. energy sector, took the biggest tumble, falling more than 11 percent last year as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions prevented energy efficiency workers from entering commercial and residential buildings.
• Wind energy employment increased slightly, while solar employment fell, driven by declines in residential solar sales and installation which were hit hard early in the pandemic and could not fully recover despite growth in the second part of the year. 2 Overall, renewable energy jobs fell by nearly 6 percent.
• Jobs in grid modernization, battery and storage occupations dropped nearly 7 percent after two years of rapid growth driven by growing demand in batteries for electric vehicles and commercial and residential energy storage.
• Clean vehicle manufacturing jobs defied overall energy sector job loss patterns and grew nearly 3 percent as automakers increasingly shifted to cleaner and more efficient electric cars, trucks and buses. Electric and hybrid electric vehicle employment grew more than six percent adding over 12,000 new jobs in 2020, the biggest increase of any clean energy category.

Despite the overall decline, clean energy remains the biggest job creator across America’s energy sector, employing nearly three times as many workers as work in fossil fuel extraction and generation. More Americans still work in clean energy than work as middle and elementary school teachers, bankers, farmers or real estate agents. Median hourly wages for clean energy jobs also are about 25 percent higher than the national median wage, and also pay better than most fossil fuel extraction jobs (See Clean Energy Wages And Making Good Jobs Even Better sidebar on page 5).

California, Texas, New York and Florida remain the nation’s leaders for clean energy jobs, but smaller states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio all employed more than 100,000 clean energy workers each at the end of last year.

2021 Clean Energy Employment Toplines

Summary:

Driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, Colorado experienced its first decline in clean energy jobs in 2020 since E2 began tracking the industry with this methodology in 2017. Colorado’s clean energy economy employed more than 58,000 workers at the end of 2020, down from 62,400 the year before, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data and the findings of a national survey of more than 35,000 businesses across the U.S. economy.

By May of last year, more than 7,500 clean energy workers in Colorado had lost their jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading widely, according to monthly analysis of unemployment data by E2 and partners.2 Since the sector’s losses peaked at the end of May 2020, jobs grew back by 6 percent. In fact, by the end of 2020 more than about 40 percent of the clean energy jobs lost between March and May had been regained, leaving the sector down about 7 percent (about 4,200 jobs) since COVID-19.

Thanks to smart state climate policy leadership, Colorado’s clean energy economy has proven to be a core part of the state’s economy—representing more than 2 percent of overall state employment. It has been resilient and robust in the face of crushing economy-wide pressures.

A  Bigger Picture

This report focuses solely on the energy sector of the economy and does not include jobs in retail trade, repair services, water or waste management, and indirect employment or induced employment.

• Small businesses are the backbone of Nevada’s clean energy economy. Nearly three out of every five (58%) clean energy workers were employed at companies with fewer than 20 employees;
• 17% of construction jobs in Nevada were in clean energy occupations, from solar installers and site workers to electricians, HVAC technicians, lighting technicians, carpenters and others who work in energy efficiency;
• Nevada ranked tenth in the country for clean energy unionization, with 9% of clean energy workers part of a union – behind only Washington, California, and Oregon in the West and well above the nation’s economywide average;
• More than four in ten Nevada clean energy workers were of non-white or Hispanic ethnicity in 2019;
• Clean energy accounts for 55% of all energy sector jobs in Nevada, and seven times more jobs than fossil fuels in the state;
• Rural areas in Nevada are home to more than 1,300 of the state’s clean energy jobs.

Nevada Clean Energy Employment Q4 2019

Summary:

Nurtured by smart clean energy policy over the past decade, including the Renewable Portfolio Standard, Clean Fuels Program and Coal to Clean, Oregon’s clean energy economy has fueled private sector job growth throughout the state. Heading into 2020, Oregon’s clean energy economy had firmly established itself as the powerhouse of the state’s energy sector and was only gaining steam. At the beginning of 2020, nearly 57,000 Oregonians worked in clean energy, representing 58% of all energy sector jobs and almost 3% of the statewide workforce. In fact, the clean energy economy was outpacing Oregon’s economy-wide job growth by over 60% and contributing to the local economy in every county and every state senate district. Companies surveyed across Oregon anticipated even more robust growth, projecting to add about 2,800 clean energy jobs in 2020. All that changed with the COVID-19 global pandemic and the economic recession it precipitated. Oregon’s clean energy economy has been hammered since the pandemic’s arrival in March, with over 6,000 of Oregon’s clean energy workers—10% of the state’s clean energy workforce pre-COVID—out of work at the beginning of 2021.

Clean Jobs Oregon details the size, scope, and diversity of this core sector of Oregon’s economy, the challenges it continues to face due to the pandemic, and the promise that strategic policy action and targeted stimulus investments in clean energy hold to drive a strong and durable recovery for Oregon’s economy. Complementing this report is E2’s recent Clean Jobs, Better Jobs report that shows wages and benefits in clean energy compare favorably to other industries; in fact, Oregon’s clean energy economy pays nearly 21% more than the state’s economy-wide median wage. Taken together, these reports demonstrate that—by leveraging clean energy’s job creation potential—Oregon policymakers can help stimulate an economic recovery, make progress towards achieving Oregon’s climate goals and create jobs that come with pay and benefits that are better than many of the jobs that have been lost

Federal policies from the Biden administration and Congress are crucial for economic recovery across the nation and in Oregon. However, Oregon policymakers have a critical role to play in facilitating recovery in the state’s clean energy sector to recuperate its recent job losses and position it for continued growth in the years to come. To help realize clean energy’s job creation potential in Oregon, state lawmakers should stay the course and ensure strong implementation of existing clean energy policies and regulations, including Gov. Kate Brown’s March 2020 Executive Order on Climate Action (EO 20-04). And by adopting additional policies in 2021 that will drive investment and job growth in the clean energy economy—such as a 100% clean electricity bill and a zero-emission truck standard called the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule—state officials can leverage Oregon’s clean energy economy as an engine for growth, both now and into the future.

A BIGGER PICTURE

This report focuses solely on the energy sector of the economy and does not include jobs in retail trade, repair services, water or waste management, and indirect employment or induced employment.

• Small businesses are the backbone of Oregon’s clean energy economy. More than eight in ten (83%) clean energy workers were employed at companies with fewer than 20 employees;
• 3 in 10 construction jobs in Oregon are in clean energy occupations, from solar installers and site workers to electricians, HVAC technicians, lighting technicians, carpenters and others who work in energy efficiency;
• Oregon ranked ninth in the country for clean energy unionization, with 9% of clean energy workers part of a union – behind only Washington and California in the West and well above the nation’s economywide average;
• Nearly four in ten Oregon clean energy workers were of non-white or Hispanic ethnicity in 2019;
• Clean energy accounts for 55% of all energy sector jobs in Oregon, 35 times more than fossil fuels;
• Rural areas in Oregon are home to more than 10,000 of the state’s clean energy jobs.

Oregon Clean Energy Employment Q4 2019