RALEIGH – North Carolina’s clean energy economy continues to expand, and a new federal report shows that job growth in the sector is occurring faster than the overall average.

That’s according to the 2022 U.S. Energy and Employment Report released by the United States Department of Energy earlier this week.

The report shows 87,837 North Carolina workers in clean energy industries, representing nearly 43% of all of the energy-related jobs in the state economy.

That percentage outpaces the national average, which was found in the report to be 41%.

Here’s the breakdown of North Carolina’s clean energy jobs: 8,640 in solar, 1,179 in wind, and 78,018 in energy efficiency.

According to Julie Murphy, principal at JPM Strategies, the state had 204,813 energy workers in 2021, representing 2.6% of all U.S. energy jobs.

“Of these energy jobs, 19,841 are in electric power generation; 7,588 in fuels; 23,308 in transmission, distribution, and storage; 78,018 in energy efficiency; and 76,059 in motor vehicles,” Murphy wrote in an email shared with WRAL TechWire.

North Carolina ranks 1st in nation for rural clean energy jobs, #9 overall

North Carolina’s clean energy economy

The state had previously ranked first in the nation for clean energy jobs based in rural areas.  But according to the latest report, clean energy workers are still very much in demand, with an increase of 5.2% in job growth found between 2020 and 2021.  That’s an increase of more than 10,000 jobs in the clean energy economy of the state.  The energy sector overall represents 4.5% of the state’s total employment.

“Amidst the unique challenges of a nation coming out of a global pandemic, America’s energy sector stands out with considerable job growth across nearly all industries,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, in a statement released with the report.  “DOE’s USEER report shows that jobs critical to our clean energy transition are on the rise and poised for continued expansion thanks to the historic investments from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

And more jobs may be coming to North Carolina with the future opening of the Toyota manufacturing plant, Boom Supersonic’s manufacturing plant, and VinFast’s automotive assembly plant.

Nationally, the report found that electric vehicle jobs increased by 26.2%, adding 21,961 new jobs and hybrid electric vehicle jobs increased 19.7%, adding 23,577 new jobs.

Clean electricy program would create 8M new jobs, analysis forecasts