America’s Clean Energy Jobs Boom: 313,000 New Jobs And Counting

When Corning Inc., recently announced it was investing $900 million to build a solar energy manufacturing facility in Michigan’s Saginaw County, it opened up economic opportunities for a community whose unemployment rate exceeds the national average.

By creating 1,150 new jobs with an average overall hourly wage of $28 and comprehensive benefits in a county where the average household income is roughly 33% below the national average, Corning proved clean energy can be an economic engine. 

But Saginaw County isn’t alone. The United States’ clean energy jobs boom has accelerated in every corner of the country since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. In less than two years, private sector companies have announced more than $360 billion in investment across nearly 600 clean energy projects that will create nearly 313,000 new jobs, according to Climate Power.

This Made-In-America success story is proving that fighting climate change by manufacturing clean energy can jumpstart an industrial renaissance the U.S. has been missing out on for decades.

Best of all, federal funds from the IRA are paying dividends – every $1 the government invests in clean energy technologies catalyzes between $5-$6 in private investment. And this boom isn’t slowing down: Clean investment in Q1 2024 hit a new high of $71 billion, and has increased every quarter since the IRA became law.

Clean Energy Jobs Are Booming

The IRA is America’s largest-ever investment in climate and clean energy, and it’s attracting hundreds of billions in private sector funds that would have either gone to other countries or wouldn’t have been made at all. Those funds are a down payment on a clean energy future where American workers earn good wages to manufacture technologies that clean our air and save consumers money.

Climate Power’s tally of private sector investment announcements since the IRA’s passage show President Biden has tapped clean energy’s potential to create an economic boom that is onshoring manufacturing and creating new jobs.

Scores of companies have announced 585 new clean energy projects totaling $361 billion in investments across 47 states and Puerto Rico between August 2022 and May 2024, creating 312,900 new jobs.

The bulk of these battery, electric vehicle, and solar or wind manufacturing facilities are located in five states – Michigan, Texas, Georgia, California, and South Carolina – with more than 180,000 jobs and $282 billion in investment landing in Congressional districts represented by Republicans.

The clean energy jobs boom is also having an outsized impact in low-income and rural communities, where roughly half the total investment is flowing and where more than half the total jobs will be created.

These results aren’t surprising. 2023 modeling from Energy Innovation predicted the IRA’s clean energy provisions could increase U.S. GDP up to $200 billion and create up to 1.3 million jobs nationwide by 2030.

Texas is forecast to be the biggest beneficiary of this clean economic boom, with more than 100,000 new jobs and $15 billion in GDP growth. Florida is forecast to be the next biggest recipient with more than 80,000 jobs and more than $10 billion in GDP growth while California, Georgia, and North Carolina round out the top five with nearly 40,000 new jobs and between $6-$4 billion in GDP growth apiece.

Clean energy now employs 3.3 million Americans, or 1 in 50 workers nationwide, according to E2. That’s more than the total number of nurses, cashiers, elementary and middle school teachers, and waiters or waitresses. E2 reports clean energy jobs have grown 10% over the past two years, faster than overall energy industry and overall U.S. employment growth, and wind turbine service technician is the fastest growing occupation in America.

Research has shown that clean energy industry jobs pay wages are about 21% higher than average, and 75% of the expected jobs from IRA investments won’t require four-year degrees, making them accessible to all Americans.

Private Investment = Clean Manufacturing

The U.S. clean energy boom is supercharging an American manufacturing renaissance, reinvigorating communities where shuttered industrial facilities have become hallmarks of a decades-long economic downturn.

The Clean Investment Monitor from Rhodium Group and Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports that clean technology investment hit a new quarterly high of $71 billion in Q1 2024, equal to 5.1% of total nationwide investment and roughly double total oil and gas investments.

Clean energy, electric vehicle, and battery energy storage manufacturing are the primary driver of this investment surge and grew 28% compared to Q4 2023.

Federal investment in clean energy – tax credits, grants, and loans – is catalyzing this growth but it’s not a handout. The Q4 2024 Clean Investment Monitor reported that every $1 of federal public investment stimulates $5-$6 of private investment into our communities and domestic economy.

Clean Energy Makes Economic Sense

This isn’t just a Red state effect, or just a Blue state effect. It’s a green trend, of new dollars flowing into communities and average people breathing cleaner air – and it just makes economic sense.

When politicians who have been climate skeptics start promoting clean energy, it’s a sign the clean energy jobs boom is changing our economy for the better. Consider South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, whose state has been one of the country’s biggest beneficiaries of new investment.

In October 2021, Gov McMaster led 11 Republican governors in an effort to convince the U.S. Congress to oppose federal tax credits for electric vehicle manufacturing.

Just a few years later, after multiple electric vehicle and battery factories were announced in his state, Gov. McMaster is touting “South Carolina’s thriving electric vehicle industry” and says electric vehicles are “regarded all over the world as the next thing.”

Everyone deserves the opportunity to choose good jobs, clean air, and lower energy bills. The IRA – and America’s clean energy jobs boom – is giving government officials and their constituents the ability to do just that.

By investing in a strong economic future, the federal government is laying the groundwork for a just transition that fights climate change while improving the lives of everyday Americans.