Clean energy jobs grew at twice the rate of overall jobs in the U.S. in 2023, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released on Wednesday.
Jobs in that sector grew by 4.2%, or 142,000 positions, last year, compared to a job growth rate of 2.0% in the overall economy, the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) showed.
The report also revealed that unionization rates in clean energy reached 12.4% in 2023, surpassing a unionization rate of 11% for the entire energy sector, which added 250,000 jobs last year.
Clean energy sectors that experienced the greatest growth last year were zero-emission vehicle and renewable energy, as well as transmission, distribution and storage, according to the report.
“Our policies are working. We are now starting to see the job impacts of investments made through the infrastructure and inflation reduction laws – first in construction and as America builds more of these factories, we’ll see hundreds of thousands more,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement.
“The data clearly show that clean energy means jobs – good jobs, union jobs, and jobs retained – in communities across the country as we race to dominate the global clean energy economy,” Granholm added.
Clean energy jobs grew in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2023, led by a 7.7% increase in Idaho, followed by Texas at 6.0%, and New Mexico at 5.9%.
The solar and wind sectors reported respective job growth of 5.3% and 4.5% in 2023, the report stated.
The DOE projects that the Inflation Reduction Act will double the share of electricity generation from clean sources by 2030, driven by growth in solar and wind.
The report also said that there were 28,000 jobs in the U.S. last year that involved building new battery and solar module factories, ports for offshore wind, and warehouses to store and transport clean energy products.
“Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s historic investments, clean energy jobs are booming in every single state,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement.
Price Action: Solar and wind companies are trending in both directions as of Wednesday’s early-morning trading.
- Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH declined 0.05% to $122.53
- Brookfield Renewables L.P. BEP gained 0.16% to $25.05
- GE Vernova Inc. GEV slipped 1.40% to $182.96
- Vestas Wind Systems A/S VWDRY ticked up 0.13% to $7.62I
Exchange-traded funds that hold these stocks also saw gains and losses on Wednesday morning.
- IShares Global Clean Energy ETF ICLN gained 0.21%
- First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund GRID slipped 0.03%
- Invesco Solar ETF TAN ticked down 0.42%
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