Advanced Energy Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a tough time for the advanced energy industry, along with many others. With more than 600,000 jobs lost in the associated shutdown of the economy, the impact has been hard, and the difficulty of getting attention to it in Washington, D.C., even harder. But as states begin to open up, however slowly, and the focus of policymakers, state and federal, turns to jumpstarting economic activity, everyone who works in or cares about the transition to an advanced energy economy should take heart – and speak up.

Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) and Arizona Public Service (APS) have been working together to identify solution opportunities to help APS achieve its ambitious goals for clean energy and support electrification of the transportation sector. This collaboration is known as the Arizona Clean Energy Future project. In January 2020, APS announced a goal to deliver 100% clean, carbon-free electricity to its customers by 2050. APS set nearer-term targets of reaching 65% clean energy by 2030, with 45% coming from renewable energy. APS also plans to end all coal-based generation by 2031, seven years sooner than previously projected. To help achieve these targets, AEE and APS discussed ways AEE member companies could help in advancing towards these targets. Bringing together product development and creative thinkers from our companies has allowed us to leverage their expertise and brainstorm possible solutions, finally narrowing them down to 10.

Automakers are particularly vulnerable to economic downturns; just think back to the 2008-2009 financial crisis. So it should come as no surprise that EV sales, along with all others, are expected to drop in the coming year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. But in the long term, nothing has changed. Manufacturers are gearing up their EV offerings, EVs continue to grow their worldwide market share, and gas-powered vehicles have hit their peak. What’s next, especially in the United States, is for the charging station build-out to match the coming demand – and realize the job gains and global competitive advantage that could come from a federal charging-station investment.

The numbers are staggering: 33 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the COVID pandemic, including nearly 600,000 in the advanced energy industry. And by the end of June, that number could hit 850,000. That would be nearly a quarter of the 3.6 million advanced energy jobs that existed at the start of the year – a time when advanced energy was a $238 billion a year industry in the United States, with employment that was growing nearly twice as fast as U.S. employment overall. For those of us who work in the industry, we know the new reality all too well, as emails bounce back not with “out of office,” but rather “no longer works here” or “has been furloughed.” It’s heartbreaking. But there are things state policymakers – especially governors and public utility commissioners – can do to prevent advanced energy business from coming to a complete halt during the public health crisis, and keep the advanced energy industry in a position to aid the economic recovery that follows. Here we lay out five ways state policymakers could do just that.

In just two short months, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the American economy. The unemployment rate has reached levels that the country has not seen since the Great Depression nearly 100 years ago. Congress and the Trump Administration have responded by providing trillions of dollars of immediate relief to businesses and households to avoid even worse impacts. But no action has been taken on a simple measure that could help save hundreds of thousands of advanced energy jobs that otherwise may never return. The time to act is now, because time is running out.