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Utility Dive: The energy sector is driving job growth, but not where you think

Posted by Robert Walton on Jun 7, 2018

This UtilityDive.com article reports on the latest national energy jobs report (USEER) and outlook by sector. Excerpts below. Read the entire article here. In reviewing report data, AEE calculates there are 3.4 million advanced energy jobs.

Wind, gas and storage jobs are all increasing in the energy sector, but the fastest employment growth isn't coming from the supply side, according to the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report. It's energy efficiency that's creating the most opportunities, the new analysis concludes in an examination of four energy-focused sectors of the U.S. economy.

The traditional energy and energy efficiency sectors, which employ about 6.5 million Americans, saw a 2% increase in jobs in 2017, or about 133,000 new positions, according to the report. A closer look at the numbers reveals they largely mirror utility sector trends, with growth focused on the advanced energy sector.

Power generation and fuels directly employed more than 1.9 million workers last year, the report concluded — a rise of 15,000 jobs over 2016. 

Energy efficiency is "by far the largest segment" of the energy sector, when you look at it in revenue dollars and employment, Advanced Energy Economy spokesperson Monique Hanis told Utility Dive in an email.

The report estimated the Transmission, Distribution and Storage category employed more than 2.3 million workers, with slightly more than 1 million working in retail trade and almost 900,000 working across utilities and construction.

The Motor Vehicles segment employed almost 2.5 million people last year, excluding automobile dealerships, representing an increase of about 29,000 jobs. Despite predictions of a coming boom in electric vehicle adoption, that has yet to materialize in employment figures — though a closer examination may reveal key indicators.

Read the full UtilityDive.com story here.

Topics: United In The News