Despite headwinds caused by the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain constraints, and economic uncertainty, clean energy jobs grew 5% from 2021 to 2022 in the U.S., with the industry now employing 3.2 million Americans.
Every clean energy sector grew last year, according to the most recent annual jobs report from the nonpartisan business group E2. In fact, half of all new U.S. energy jobs in 2021 were in clean energy.
Fossil fuel jobs fell by 4% last year, the report noted.
“Expanding clean energy and clean transportation is simply a bipartisan win for our economy," E2 executive director Bob Keefe said. "This data shows clean energy jobs are not red state jobs or blue state jobs – they’re red, white and blue jobs."
Subscribe today to the all-new Factor This! podcast from Renewable Energy World. This podcast is designed specifically for the solar industry and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
While clean jobs grew along with most of the rest of the economy in 2021, they are still well below their pre-COVID peak, in part because of lingering uncertainty around federal policy.
In late July, in a head-snapping reversal, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said that he had reached a deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on a budget reconciliation package that includes $369 billion for clean energy and climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act would provide a 10-year extension to the Investment Tax Credit and Production Tax Credit on which clean energy projects rely heavily for market certainty.
Broken down by sector, electric vehicle jobs grew from 2021 to 2022 — 26% — while solar jobs grew by 5%, wind by 3%, and clean energy storage by 4%.
U.S. states ranked by clean energy jobs in 2022
- California - 505,083
- Texas - 238,884
- New York - 160,642
- Florida - 158,467
- Illinois - 120,775
- Michigan - 119,853
- Massachusetts - 113,409
- Ohio - 110,272
- North Carolina - 103,854
- Pennsylvania - 92,773
- Virginia - 92,315
- Indiana - 86,215
- Maryland - 80,025
- Tennessee - 77,685
- Washington - 76,905
- Georgia - 75,211
- Wisconsin - 71,370
- Colorado - 61,179
- Arizona - 59,383
- Minnesota - 57,931
- Missouri - 54,397
- Oregon - 53,869
- New Jersey - 53,334
- South Carolina - 44,011
- Utah - 43,452
- Alabama - 41,984
- Connecticut - 41,458
- Kentucky - 35,437
- Nevada - 32,378
- Iowa - 30,393
- Louisiana - 28,094
- Kansas - 23,821
- Oklahoma - 21,602
- Mississippi - 20,018
- Arkansas - 19,965
- Nebraska - 18,822
- New Hampshire - 15,915
- Vermont - 15,668
- Rhode Island - 14,309
- D.C. - 14,244
- Idaho - 13,409
- Hawaii - 12,873
- Maine - 12,493
- Delaware - 12,268
- New Mexico - 12,014
- South Dakota - 11,860
- Montana - 9,898
- West Virginia - 9,540
- North Dakota - 8,614
- Wyoming - 8,226
- Alaska - 5,006
