US looses nearly 100k renewable power jobs due to virus

Job losses in the US renewable power generation sector have reached 99,717 since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to BW Research’s analysis of official statistics.

In May, renewable power generation lost 4,272 jobs, which is significantly below the levels of the previous two months -- 71,705 in April and 23,739 in March.

In total, clean energy job losses arrived at 620,590 for the three months, of which 446,416 in April. Most of that comes from the energy efficiency sector. There is a notable decline in May, but BW Research is concerned about the high number of energy-related jobs supported by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). It warns that the expiry of the employment window of the PPP may lead to a new round of clean energy layoffs unless the government intervenes in some other way.

The table below shows the distribution of job losses across clean energy sectors.

“The continued job losses in May and forthcoming PPP expiration indicates it will be very tough for the clean energy sector to return to its economy-leading jobs growth without significant intervention from Congress and state governments,” the research firm said.

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