By the Electrical India content team
The US has lost over 106,000 clean energy jobs in March, and hundreds more are expected in the months to come due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Michigan were the states hit hardest by the sector’s losses. The job loss estimates are based on an analysis of unemployment data released by E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), E4 TheFuture and the BW Research Partnership.
An analysis conducted by the Department of Labor found that 1,06,472 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. The clean energy jobs, as defined in the report, 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 is one of the US economy’s biggest and fast-growing employment sectors.