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The Clean Energy Economy...

New Report: Nearly 17,500 Clean Energy Jobs in Nebraska

The number of people now working in clean energy industries throughout Nebraksa is 17,482, a more than 6 percent increase since 2015, according to an analysis released by Clean Energy Trust (CET) and the national nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Job growth across sectors including renewable energy generation, advanced grid, energy efficiency, clean fuels, and advanced transportation is occurring almost seven times faster than overall job growth in the state.

The analysis — available at CleanJobsMidwest.com — is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and a comprehensive survey of thousands of businesses across the region conducted by BW Research Partners. The Clean Jobs Midwest report provides detailed breakdowns of clean energy jobs — including job totals for every county, congressional district, and state legislative district in the 12-state Midwest region of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. There are 599,775 clean energy jobs in the entire region.

Nebraska’s clean energy workforce employs almost five times as many people than all the computer programmers and web developers in the state, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The Midwest has witnessed declining manufacturing employment over the years and this report highlights the important role of clean energy jobs in filling the gap for the region's workforce," said Erik G. Birkerts, CEO of Clean Energy Trust. "We're optimistic that this growth engine can continue unabated as the Midwest continues to prove it is a fertile region for clean energy innovation, enabling businesses to launch, grow and create jobs."

“States are leading the clean energy revolution in America,” said Bob Keefe, E2’s Executive Director. “The Midwest has quickly become a clean energy job hub, with every state seeing job growth. While pioneering businesses are driving this growth, we need more policymakers to incentivize clean energy development to ensure America doesn’t fall behind global competitors.”

The CET/E2 report includes clean energy sector comparisons for each state across the Midwest region. Energy efficiency continues to be the largest energy employer in Nebraska accounting for 13,372 jobs including hardware and software implementers, people working on high efficiency heating and cooling systems, and system technicians. The biggest job growth occurred in the renewable energy sector. Jobs in wind, solar, geothermal, bioenergy, and low-impact hydroelectric power grew by 14 percent in the past year.

For the state of Nebraska, the report also found:

  • Close to 56 percent of all clean energy jobs were in construction — 9,773 jobs. Manufacturing accounted for 1,965 more jobs — over 11 percent of all clean energy jobs.
  • There are 2,178 workers in solar energy generation 1,276 in wind energy generation.
  • 491 clean energy workers are employed in the advanced transportation industry. This includes hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles, alternative fuels vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles.
  • The clean fuels and advanced grid sectors employ 52 and 113 Nebraska workers respectively.

2016 Department of Energy data shows that there are more than three million clean energy workers across the country. For a fact sheet outlining more specifics about the national clean energy jobs landscape, view E2’s fact sheet.

The report includes an interactive map and profiles of Midwestern clean energy workers.