Summary
New York’s clean energy industry added 7,774 workers in 2023. With a 4.7-percent growth rate, clean energy is adding jobs much more quickly than overall employment in the state, which grew 1.6 percent. New York’s clean energy workforce ranked fourth nationally in 2023, with 173,731 jobs. Most of the workforce was in the construction and professional services industries. In 2023 in New York, there were 2.4 times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs. Seven New York counties made the list of the Top 100 counties for clean energy jobs in the entire U.S.: New York (49,103 jobs), Suffolk (15,582), Nassau (13,262), Queens (11,993), Westchester (9,612), Erie (9,448), and Kings (8,442).
- RENEWABLE GENERATION: Renewable generation grew 7 percent in 2023, bringing New York’s renewable generation workforce to 22,064—fifth-largest nationally. Solar and wind account for the majority of the sector’s workforce with 15,490 jobs and 4,482 jobs respectively.
- ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Energy efficiency is New York’s largest clean energy sector with 129,946 workers. The sector grew 3.1 percent in 2023.
- STORAGE AND GRID MODERNIZATION: Jobs in battery, storage, and grid modernization grew 5.8 percent in 2023, making the sector the third-fastest growing clean energy sector in the state. New York’s storage and grid modernization workforce totaled 4,895 in 2023—No. 8 nationally.
- CLEAN VEHICLES: The fastest-growing workforce in New York’s clean energy industry is clean vehicles. Clean vehicles jobs grew 16 percent in 2023 and the sector now employs 14,981 workers. The sector grew much faster than New York’s gas/diesel vehicles sector, which ticked up 0.5 percent in 2023.
- CLEAN FUELS: New York’s clean fuels workforce is the state’s smallest clean energy sector, with 1,846 jobs. Despite being a small clean energy employer, clean fuels jobs in New York grew at a healthy 3.7 percent rate.
Previous Reports
Clean Jobs New York 2024 is the third standalone clean energy jobs report for New York from E2. E2 has tracked Clean Energy jobs in the state since 2015 as part of E2’s annual Clean Jobs America analysis. Previous standalone reports can be accessed in the below link.
Background
This is the third Clean Jobs New York report produced by E2. The 2024 report is based on analysis of the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), which was first released by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2016. E2 was an original proponent of the DOE producing the USEER and was a partner on the reports produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) after the Trump administration decided not to produce it in 2017. For methodology questions, see pages 201-206 of the 2024 USEER.
For additional insight into E2’s Clean Jobs New York or our other annual clean energy economic reports, visit e2.org/reports.