More than 106,000 clean energy workers lost their jobs in the month of March, and hundreds of thousands more clean energy job losses are projected in the coming months, according to a new analysis of unemployment data released today by E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), E4TheFuture and BW Research Partnership.
The analysis of Department of Labor data found that 106,472 workers in clean energy occupations filed for unemployment benefits last month, wiping out all 2019 clean energy job gains across renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, energy storage and clean fuels. These include electricians, HVAC and mechanical trades technicians and construction workers who work in energy efficiency; solar installers; wind industry engineers and technicians; and manufacturing workers employed by electric and other clean- vehicle manufacturing companies and suppliers.
Clean energy has been one of the U.S. economy’s biggest and fastest-growing employment sectors over the past decade, growing 10.4% since 2015. According to a separate report released today by E2, U.S. clean energy jobs increased to nearly 3.4 million at the end of 2019. Clean Jobs America 2020 found the industry accounted for more than half of the entire energy sector’s job growth in 2019, adding more than 70,000 jobs for a 2.2% growth rate — a faster pace than the U.S. workforce as a whole. At the start of 2020, America’s clean energy workforce accounted for more than one out of every 50 U.S. workers. That made clean energy by far the biggest employer of workers in energy occupations, employing nearly three times more workers than the fossil fuel industry.
But all that growth came to a screeching halt in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. The March layoffs are just the first indication of how badly the clean energy industry will be hit by the crisis, with the analysis projecting that more than 500,000 clean energy workers — 15% of the entire clean energy workforce — will lose their jobs in the months ahead, unless Congress and the Trump administration take quick and substantive action.
A loss of that magnitude would erase the clean energy industry’s total job growth over the last five years.
“What these numbers tell us is that clean energy workers are a huge and important part of America’s workforce — and they are hurting badly,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of the national, nonpartisan business group E2. “Lawmakers simply cannot ignore the millions of electricians, technicians and factory workers who work in clean energy as they consider ongoing economic recovery efforts — especially since we know from our country’s last economic meltdown that clean energy can lead the way to recovery.”
“This analysis quantifies in stark terms the damage COVID-19 is already doing to the renewable energy workforce, and the devastating trajectory we’re facing absent help from Congress,” said Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). “The renewable sector is being hit hard by supply chain disruptions, shelter-in-place orders and other significant pandemic-related delays. To stem job losses, we ask Congress to extend the time-sensitive deadlines faced by renewable projects seeking to qualify for critical tax incentives, and to provide temporary refundability for renewable tax credits that are increasingly difficult to monetize. In the end, we’re all in this together, and the renewable energy industry wants to be a key economic driver to help the nation through this downturn, as well as an effective climate solution over the long haul.”
“The economic fallout from COVID-19 is historic in both size and speed,” said Phil Jordan, VP and principal at BW Research Partnership. “Activities across the entire range of clean energy activities, from manufacturing electric vehicles to installing solar panels, are being impacted. And the data pretty clearly indicate that this is just the beginning.”
Industries hit hardest
According to the unemployment data analysis, energy efficiency lost more jobs than any other sector of the clean energy industry in March, with nearly 70,000 people losing their jobs. The losses in the energy efficiency sector accounted for about two-thirds of all clean energy unemployment filings — as electricians, plumbers, construction workers, energy auditors and others were unable to enter homes, offices and other buildings because of coronavirus quarantines.
Renewable energy lost more than 16,000 lost jobs, and filings are expected to increase substantially in the coming weeks as solar and wind energy companies struggle with sudden and massive financing issues that are resulting in canceled and delayed projects.
The clean vehicle sector was also severely impacted, losing 12,000 jobs in factories that manufacture electric and hybrid vehicles and the parts that go in them. This represents the largest percentage job loss — 4.5% — of any clean energy sector. This does not include the 20,000 workers that Tesla furloughed, or other losses posted after this March data was collected.
|
State
|
Unemployment Claims
|
Percent Decline
|
|
US TOTAL
|
106,472
|
3.10%
|
|
California
|
19,949
|
3.60%
|
|
North Carolina
|
6,800
|
5.90%
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
6,068
|
6.20%
|
|
Massachusetts
|
5,611
|
4.40%
|
|
Michigan
|
5,446
|
4.10%
|
|
New York
|
4,789
|
2.90%
|
|
Ohio
|
4,719
|
4.10%
|
|
Texas
|
4,246
|
1.70%
|
|
Washington
|
3,940
|
4.40%
|
|
Illinois
|
3,326
|
2.60%
|
States hit across country
California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Massachusetts were among the states that saw the most unemployment filings in clean energy last month, while 26 states saw job losses rise above 1,000, according to the analysis.
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, see the full analysis here.
The Clean Jobs America 2020 report is E2’s fifth iteration of the annual employment analysis. The report 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 2020 and 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.
Previous E2 Clean Jobs America Reports:
Previous E2 and E4TheFuture Jobs Reports:
- Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2019
- Energy Efficiency Jobs In America 2018
- Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2017
News item from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)
These statistics valid or not are pretty much in the construction portion of the alternative energy sector. Construction has always been a roller coaster ride in employment and unemployment through the decades. Policies don’t directly affect the movement of a virus through a population. We get a lot of press and yet what we don’t know for sure, just how long this country has been “living” with Corona virus-19. Patient (zero) was determined to be in China on November, 17. What we don’t know if patient zero was a traveler and may have already infected dozens of citizens in China or abroad. New York city may have been infected shortly after November, 17 and perhaps California also. Major international flight hubs that can spread disease in hours from one State or country to another. Social distancing, covering one’s face in public seems to have an effect, but when these social distancing practices are relaxed, will the incidences of Covid-19 surge once again? Just love the scientific term, “herd immunity” is apparently low and until a valid vaccine is made available to the public at large, we will all be susceptible to Covid-19 or some mutation Covid-20..22. If one goes on long enough, the food supply will become strained, infected or non-existent. At that point one is just “rolling the dice”.