Last week, the Energy Programs Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection unveiled the Clean Energy Employment Report, highlighting the critical role energy jobs play in the state’s economy. Produced in partnership with BW Research Partnership, the report finds that the number of Pennsylvanians employed by the energy efficiency, clean energy generation, clean transportation, storage, and fuels industries grew by 8.7 percent, nearly 7,800 jobs, between 2017 and 2019. This growth outpaces the overall statewide labor market, which expanded by about 1.9 percent in the same time frame.
Within clean energy industries, energy efficiency and power generation (particularly from solar and wind resources) accounted for a significant portion of the labor market, and were concentrated heavily within construction and manufacturing firms. The report also finds that Pennsylvania’s clean energy industry has higher levels of representation of veterans and Hispanic and Latinx people, and that more than two of three clean energy jobs pay higher wages than the statewide median adjusted for technology sectors and experience.
The report is based on data collected in the last quarter of 2019, and does not reflect the significant workforce impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic. According to research by BW Research Partnership, as of July 2020, cumulative energy sector job losses since the start of the pandemic exceed 50,000, representing nearly one in five workers.