The US clean energy industry ended last year with the fewest number of workers since 2015, as impacts of the coronavirus pandemic mean 12% of the sector’s workforce is unemployed.
A bill which promises to revamp solar support frameworks and stimulate investment in grids in the US has cleared its first hurdle, passing the House of Representatives.
Sector sheds in two months twice the workers it had gained over two years and could see cumulative losses of 850,000 by 30 June, according to latest update by E2, ACORE and others.
SEIA, ACORE and others lament US federal energy regulator’s dismissal of request to reconsider PJM rule change, which the industry feels will ‘pad fossil fuel profits’ at renewables’ expense.
The 106,000-plus workers let go last month alone indicates the sector could lose 15% of its workforce in the coming months unless action is taken, warns study by E2, ACORE, E4TheFuture and BW.
SEIA and ACORE slam December decision by federal energy watchdog to reform pricing rules of interstate electric grid PJM's pricing system, claiming it will discriminate against clean energy generators.