The U.S. clean energy workforce fell by nearly 37,000 jobs last year to 3.52 million, according to new E2 analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Energy data. It was the first annual job loss in the U.S. clean economy since the pandemic-driven economic crisis, ending four consecutive years of strong growth. The reversal coincided with the sharp increase in clean energy project cancellations tracked by E2 since the Trump administration and Congress began ending and rolling back federal support for clean energy and electric vehicles beginning in January 2025.
National Findings
- Reversal after four years of gains. Clean energy companies cut 36,949 jobs in 2025, wiping out nearly 40 percent of all new jobs created the year before. It was the first time since the pandemic-fueled economic crisis that companies cut jobs in solar, wind, energy efficiency and other clean energy sectors.
- All of the biggest sectors of the clean economy saw job losses. Only storage and grid and biofuels posted slight increases in new jobs last year. Energy efficiency, renewables and clean vehicles all saw losses.
- Downturn mirrored job losses throughout the energy sector. US DOE estimates that the overall U.S. energy economy employed 8.4 million workers in 2025 and lost 86,000 jobs. Clean energy jobs accounted for roughly 43 percent of all energy sector job losses.
- Losses impacted most of the country. Clean energy employment fell in 35 states; California alone lost almost 21,000 jobs, while Florida led in clean energy job gains, gains adding 3,800 positions last year.
- Long-term gains remain, but momentum has stopped. Clean energy jobs 16% higher than 2020 levels. However, the run of adding 100,000 new jobs or more every year appears to be over.
- Clean energy remains the largest part of America’s energy industry. With more than 3.5million workers, clean energy still represents the biggest part of America’s energy workforce by far. By comparison, oil and gas companies employ 958,000 workers; coal companies employ 125,000; and nuclear companies employ 70,000
Previous Reports
Clean Jobs America 2026: Initial Findings is the 11th annual clean energy employment report from E2. Previous reports can be accessed in the below links.
Background
The analysis expands on employment data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership for the 2026 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) released by the Department of Energy (DOE). The USEER analyzes data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) to track employment across many energy production, transmission, and distribution subsectors. For more information on the methodology click here.
This is the 11th annual Clean Jobs America report produced by E2 based on analysis of the USEER, which was first released by the DOE in 2016. E2 was an original proponent of the DOE producing the USEER, and was a partner on the 2018, 2019, and 2020 reports produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) after the DOE chose not to produce a USEER.