February 28, 2017

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New Report: America's Energy Sector Is Growing (and Shifting) Rapidly

Energy sectors job growth is significant, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Energy. But this growth is unevenly distributed across the 50 states due to shifts in the industry

By Melissa C. Lott

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

An estimated 6.4 million Americans are currently working in the traditional energy and energy efficiency sectors in 2016 according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Furthermore, with regards to job growth in the energy sector, according to the latest U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) in 2016:

  • the traditional energy and energy efficiency industries added over 300,000 (net) new jobs in 2016, 14% of the nation’s job growth

  • the number of energy efficiency jobs in the United States increased by 133,000 for a total of 2.2 million

  • investments in energy transmission, distribution and storage generated 65,000 new jobs

  • solar industry employment increased by over 73,000 jobs (25%)

  • wind industry employment grew by 25,000 jobs, for a total of 102,000 at the end of 2016

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But, this growth in the energy sector is unevenly distributed across the fifty states according to the latest USEER. Some states (e.g. California and Texas) have experienced “dramatic employment gains” in part thanks to abundant renewable energy resources. Others (e.g. West Virginia and Wyoming) have seen declining employment, in particular related to shrinking coal employment.

One can read the entire report for free here with state-level analysis available here.

 

 

 

 

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