The 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report was unveiled in Washington, D.C. on May 16, by Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), former Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz and others.
According to the new report, Washington State has 150,000 energy jobs, over a third of which are energy efficiency jobs. In addition, 2.8 percent of all U.S. energy efficiency jobs are in Washington, making the state a national leader. Nationwide employment in this sector is expected to continue to increase, with energy efficiency employment projected to grow another 9% in 2018, and energy efficiency construction jobs projected to grow by 11%.
“Our nation is embarking on one of the greatest economic opportunities, and that is a clean, efficient, energy economy,” said Senator Cantwell during the Capitol Hill event.
In 2016, Senator Cantwell hosted a roundtable at Pacific Northwest National Lab in Richland, Wash., with then Energy Secretary Moniz. The event marked the release of a study by Senator Cantwell that included information on the role that Centralia College’s Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy has played in developing an energy workforce throughout the state.
“The Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy has served the region for the past 12 years representing the needs and interests of the energy industry and labor partners. We are charged with narrowing the gap between employers’ demands for a highly skilled workforce and the college’s ability to supply work-ready graduates,” said Barbara Hins-Turner, Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Clean Energy.