U.S., Pennsylvania Add Energy Jobs in 2022

The U.S. added almost 300,000 energy jobs in 2022, an increase of 3.8%, a recent federal report found. The 2023 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) tracks employment trends across the energy sector. One of its key findings is that clean energy jobs increased in every state in the nation, adding 114,000 jobs (a 3.9% increase). The report said the trend reflects increased investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, semiconductors and clean energy technology by the Biden administration. Clean energy technologies, led by solar and wind, accounted for more than 84% of new electric power generation jobs, while jobs related to zero emission vehicles added 38,000 jobs, a 21% jump. The growth in clean energy jobs was faster than last year due to increased federal investment. The USEER summarizes national and state-level employment, industry, occupation and demographic information of various energy technologies, including electricity production; transmission and distribution; fuels; energy efficiency; and motor vehicles and components. Solar power generation employs the most workers in the clean energy sector, adding 12,000 new jobs in 2022. Clean vehicle job growth was also up with the most rapid increase in battery electric vehicle jobs, adding more than 28,000 jobs (a 27% increase). The top states for growth in clean energy jobs were California, West Virginia and Texas. Pennsylvania also saw growth in that sector, but traditional energy sectors also saw strong numbers. Pennsylvania had 273,364 energy workers in 2022, representing 3.4% of all U.S. energy jobs and 4.6 percent of state jobs, according to the report’s state-level data. That number was a 5.9% increase from the previous year. The motor vehicle category employs the most workers in the state at 81,592, followed by energy efficiency at almost 70,000, transmission and distribution at 51,437, fuels at 48,405, and electric generation at 21,580. Solar electric generation jobs in the state led all technologies at 6,300, while natural gas generation jobs were almost 3,000 and coal generation jobs were just 1,600. In the fuels sector, petroleum jobs led with 16,000, followed by natural gas with 13,600, and coal at 6,500. The report also surveyed employers for their perspectives and found that those in Pennsylvania are optimistic about job growth in the energy sector over the next year, expecting it to increase by about 5% in each sector.