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Clean energy jobs grew at double the rate of overall US employment in 2023: report

Clean energy jobs grew at double the rate of overall US employment in 2023: report
Workers place a NineDot Energy battery in the Bronx (courtesy: NineDot Energy)

The clean energy sector added 142,000 jobs in 2023, accounting for more than half of new energy jobs and growing at a rate more than twice as large as that for the rest of the energy sector and the U.S. economy overall. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), a study designed to track and understand employment trends across the energy sector. As the private sector continues to announce major investments in American-made energy, the 2024 USEER shows that the energy workforce overall added over 250,000 jobs in 2023; 56% of those were in clean energy. 

For the first time, unionization rates in clean energy, at 12.4%, surpassed the average rate in the energy sector of 11%, driven by “rapid growth” in unionized construction and utility industries, DOE said. The sectors experiencing the most growth include zero-emission vehicles and renewable energy, as well as transmission, distribution, and storage.

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“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,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “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.”

This year’s report reflects a record number of survey responses from 42,000 businesses nationwide.

Key takeaways

In 2023, clean energy was the driving factor for growth in the energy sector – jobs in clean energy grew by 4.2%, more than twice as much as the job growth rate of 2.0% in the overall economy.

Jobs in clean energy grew in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In particular, Idaho had the fastest rate of clean energy job growth, increasing at 7.7%, followed by Texas at 6.0%, and New Mexico at 5.9%.

Both the solar and wind sectors reported strong job growth – jumping 5.3% and 4.5% respectively. Looking forward, 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. As the energy industry ramps up to meet this growth, construction is booming in many parts of the country. The energy construction sector added nearly 90,000 energy jobs, growing 4.5%, almost double the economy-wide construction employment growth of 2.3%.

In addition to jobs in energy infrastructure like renewable energy and grid upgrades, jobs resulting from the construction of domestic clean energy manufacturing and supply chain facilities were tracked for the first time this year. In addition to the 90,000 traditional energy construction jobs, the report found an additional 28,000 jobs in 2023 carrying out the work of 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,” said AFL-CIO president, Liz Shuler. “With union density in clean energy at record highs, it’s clear we can create good jobs and advance a cleaner economy at the same time. And as the report shows, union labor makes a difference; employers report that working with unions has made it easier for them to find the skilled workers they need and hire a diverse workforce. We look forward to continuing to partner with Vice President Harris and the Department of Energy to ensure that clean energy jobs are good union jobs.”

Additional highlights

From 2022 to 2023, employment increased across all five USEER energy technology categories: electric power generation; energy efficiency; fuels; motor vehicles; and transmission, distribution, and storage.

The energy efficiency sector supported almost 2.3 million jobs in 2023, adding nearly 75,000 positions from the year before – the most of any sector. Energy efficiency includes the installation of several home energy improvements now eligible for tax breaks under the IRA, and the 3.4% growth rate was the strongest showing since 2018.

Veterans accounted for 9% of the U.S. energy workforce, greater than their representation in the overall U.S. workforce, and the energy workforce is younger than average, with 29% of workers below the age of 30. Latino and Hispanic workers held nearly one-third of the new energy jobs created in 2023, growing by 79,000 workers.

The energy industry sectors experiencing the highest job growth from 2022 to 2023 were utilities and construction. The utilities sector saw the fastest employment growth of 5.0% in 2023, adding nearly 30,000 jobs. The construction sector added nearly 90,000 energy jobs, growing 4.5%, almost double the economy-wide construction employment growth of 2.3%.

Clean energy technologies accounted for 79% of net new electric power generation employment, adding 28,086 jobs. Wind and solar employment grew at rates well above average, and solar jobs became more demographically diverse and more heavily unionized.

Motor vehicle jobs are growing, and the most rapid growth is in zero-emission vehicles. Nationwide, jobs in motor vehicles grew, with clean vehicle employment increasing 11.4%, adding 24,826 jobs. 

State data

Texas (969,801), California (932,273), Michigan (401,720), Florida (351,934), and Ohio (333,110) have the greatest number of energy jobs in the United States.     

California (545,207), Texas (261,934), New York (177,202), Florida (172,115), and Illinois (130,473) have the greatest number of clean energy jobs.

Alabama (9.6%), Utah (7.8%), and North Carolina (6.9%) had the fastest rate of energy job growth from 2022 to 2023.

A recent report from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) identified impactful opportunities to close the wind energy workforce gap, although there will likely be a significant shortage of wind energy workers in the coming decades.

The report says industry and educational institutions should collaborate to help students build awareness of wind industry opportunities. 60% of students reported a lack of exposure to the wind energy industry within their coursework, and 59% of wind energy firms reported no partnerships with educational institutions to find applicants for internships, apprenticeships, or job candidates.

Earlier this year, DOE announced a $24 million funding opportunity for workforce training programs with a focus on training in clean energy jobs that do not require a four-year degree. This funding, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Is meant to further expand the existing Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) network to include more union training programs, community colleges, and trade schools. These IACs support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of growing our clean energy workforce and boosting the economy by helping small and midsized manufacturers (SMMs) identify opportunities to save costs and increase productivity.

The centers will build on the recent round of IAC network expansion to train students and incumbent workers for careers in clean energy, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing that do not require a four-year degree; and help small and midsized manufacturers (SMMs) save money, reduce energy waste, and improve productivity.