The Denver Post covered the release of AEE’s Colorado Jobs fact sheet in an Aug. 9 online story that also ran in print on Aug. 10. The online version includes a link to download the fact sheet. Both versions quote an AEE spokesperson and Phil Jordan, of BW Research, who oversaw the project, and references AEE members Johns Manville and Vestas in the context of the strong energy efficiency and wind jobs figures respectively. See excerpts below:

Mention alternative energy, and rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles may come to mind. But in Colorado, a disproportionate share of jobs in that emerging part of the economy are tied to wind turbines and biofuels, according to a new report from the business group Advanced Energy Economy.

The alternative energy sector, or what the industry is now calling advanced energy, employs 3.2 million people in the United States, including 62,800 people in Colorado, a number close to Grand Junction’s population, according to the report.

The biggest category in Colorado and across the country involves energy efficiency, with the bulk of those jobs on the installation side, i.e. construction trades, and to a lesser degree in research and manufacturing, i.e. Denver-based Johns Manville.

Energy efficiency employment accounts for 32,000 jobs or 51 percent of the total in advanced energy in Colorado. Nationally, the share is closer to 62 percent, a difference that can be explained by Colorado having a higher share of workers in power generation, said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for AEE… 

…About 54 percent of employers in Colorado said it is “very difficult” to find qualified candidates for advanced energy jobs, which outnumber hospital-related jobs and are three times the number of agriculture jobs.

See the entire story here. This piece also appeared in print on Aug. 10, under the title, “Wind and biofuels are big drivers in energy economy; Alternative energy sector employs 3.2M people in the U.S.”