Clean Energy Trends & Insights for a Post-Coronavirus Recovery
Clean energy jobs in Colorado increased by more than 4% for the second year in a row, growing to 62,400 workers statewide at the end of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic rattled the nation’s – and Colorado’s economy. As the Mountain West’s leader in clean energy jobs, Colorado ranked in the top 20 for clean energy jobs among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Since 2017, the state has added more new jobs (5,400) than ten of the current top 20 states for overall clean energy jobs. Today, about one in every 50 jobs in Colorado is in a clean energy occupation.
As Colorado leaders continue to assess policy options for economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19, this report sets out to illustrate why the state’s once-booming clean energy economy is more critical to the future of Colorado’s economy than ever before and needs to be prioritized if the state wants to not only recover but thrive in the post-coronavirus economy.
E2 and COSSA’s Clean Jobs Colorado 2020 details the size, scope, and diversity of this important employment sector, the troubles it is currently facing due to the pandemic and how focusing recovery policies on clean energy can get Colorado workers and businesses back on track and the state’s economy up and running again for the long run.
INDUSTRY JOB TOPLINES | Q4 2019
- Energy Efficiency – 36,092 jobs
- Renewable Energy – 17,924 jobs
- Solar Energy – 8,355 jobs
- Wind Energy – 7,509 jobs
- Clean Vehicles – 3,212 jobs
- Clean Storage – 1,704 jobs
- Grid Modernization – 1,369 jobs
- Clean Fuels – 2,120 jobs
- ALL Clean Energy Sectors – 62,420 jobs
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The complete report is available for download at this link.
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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 2020and 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. Clean energy jobs have grown every year since the first report was released in 2016.
If you are looking for additional insight into E2’s Clean Jobs Colorado 2020 or our other Clean Jobs America reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake (mtimberlake@e2.org). An FAQ is also available here to answer any questions.
PAST CLEAN JOBS COLORADO REPORTS
Clean Jobs Colorado 2020 is the 5th statewide clean energy jobs report from E2. Previous reports can be accessed in the below links.