Advanced Energy Perspectives

The advanced energy sector has experienced significant job growth in recent years, driven by technology advancements, increased investment in renewable energy sources, and supportive government policies aimed at combating climate change by transitioning away from fossil fuels. Investments in solar, wind, electric vehicles (EVs), and battery storage are creating millions of well-paying jobs across the advanced energy sector. As the advanced energy space continues to flourish, the future of the American workforce will evolve as well, contributing to economic development, energy independence, and positioning the U.S. as a leader in global advanced energy development. 

Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the advanced energy industry is about to take off. With the stage set for rapid industry expansion, it’s vital to know what jobs will become available and who will have access to them. Thanks to a new analysis of jobs advertised and filled in the past year and a half, we now know, at a granular level, that advanced energy growth offers job opportunities for workers with many different backgrounds – but could pose a challenge in filling the jobs needed to fulfill that growth.

Labor Day 2022 is like none other for the advanced energy industry. It arrives after two years of COVID-related retrenchment and recovery and nearly a year of policy upheaval at the federal level, with threats of solar trade restrictions and climate and clean energy legislation seemingly stalled. Then, last month, came the Inflation Reduction Act which, when combined with the smaller but, in retrospect, complementary Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act a year earlier, provides $444 billion for investment in advanced energy. That direct investment of federal dollars will, we estimate, attract $1.2 trillion in private investment, for a total boost of $2.8 trillion for the U.S. economy. And that means one more big thing: jobs.

It’s Labor Day! It’s a day not only for backyard BBQs and final dips in the pool, but also, and more importantly, a day to recognize the hard-working yet under-appreciated folks who built America, and keep it humming. For us at AEE, it’s also a day to provide some new resources for growing jobs in the advanced energy industry.

In the 1920s the United States dominated the automobile market, led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Co. Before that, cars were difficult to make and expensive to buy. But thanks to Ford’s Model T and (then) newfangled assembly line production, the demand for cars became overwhelming, driving production into high gear, putting Americans to work with higher wages, and lowering the cost of these vehicles. This phenomenon occurs with most new technologies, from the desktop computer to the toaster. So, it is no surprise that we see the same phenomenon happening with electric vehicles (EVs) nearly 100 years later. Question is: Is the U.S. prepared to dominate the EV market the way it did in Henry Ford’s time?