As presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump prepare to face off in the first debate on Tuesday night, voters will be closely watching how they handle issues such as the economy, inflation and job growth. plan.
One industry facing particular uncertainty after the election is clean energy, which has received a boost from the Biden administration but faces skepticism from Trump.
Climate change and the shift to more sustainable energy have boosted job growth in the industry in recent years, thanks in part to the Inflation Reduction Act and Chip and Science Act. Latest data from the Department of Energy Data show that clean energy job opportunities increased by 142,000 last year, accounting for more than half of the employment in the new energy industry.
According to the latest 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report, this growth rate is more than twice the growth rate of other energy industries and the overall U.S. economy.
The non-profit Environment and Energy Institute said there was more “long-term certainty” in work related to energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate resilience since the implementation of the IRA and CHIPS and the Science Act. According to EESI, IRA is expected to create more than 300,000 jobs per year in the construction of new energy projects and approximately 100,000 permanent jobs per year.
Despite uncertainty over job growth in the sector following the election, industry observers say the future of energy production and consumption is always changing.
“The energy system has been undergoing transformation for decades – it’s always in transition, always in a state of flux,” EESI President Daniel Bresette said of the impact of the upcoming election.
Ameresco, which integrates clean technologies and develops, owns and operates renewable energy projects, is moving ahead with hiring plans regardless of the election outcome. This year, the company will add 300 employees in the United States and Europe, including engineers, project managers, developers, analysts and more. Ameresco provides efficient energy solutions to customers ranging from federal and state governments to universities and hospitals.
“No matter who is in the White House, everyone needs energy. So the enablers are going to increase the demand for safer energy, cheaper energy and cleaner energy,” Executive Vice President Nicole Bulgarino Nicole Bulgarino, president and general manager of Ameresco Federal and Utility Solutions.
The company is also looking to Gen Z to fill these positions, as fewer applicants apply through trade and vocational schools and younger workers show interest in climate-friendly opportunities. Ameresco, which offers tuition reimbursement and mentoring programs, said it has had success recruiting recent college graduates and investing in their training.
Caroline Leilani Stevenson, a 22-year-old associate electrical engineer at Ameresco, is part of the Gen Z recruitment program. Stevenson interned at Ameresco, returned full-time after graduation, and now works on projects for the Department of Defense.
She was able to work on a solar energy project in Honolulu, which was especially meaningful to her growing up on Maui. Like others of her generation, she finds the idea of working on more sustainable energy solutions appealing.
“I want to make an impact and build something really great,” she said. “A large naval base has different energy needs than a small elementary school, a New York suburb or a hospital has different energy needs than a large data center… It’s great to be able to design a system like this to be able to see and know that the power of those lines is going somewhere. , and ultimately improve life as a whole.
As Harris and Trump prepare to debate their policies, neither candidate has so far presented a comprehensive plan on energy and climate change, leading to uncertainty in the industry. But their experiences in the White House can help inform possible paths.
Harris was a key figure in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, which she cast as the decisive vote to pass as President Joe Biden’s vice president. She also supported the Green New Deal during her time in the Senate, but has abandoned some of her previous positions that moved further to the progressive left. Harris also said during the Interviewed by CNN She would not ban fracking, a position she took during her previous run for the White House.
At the same time, Trump promised to make energy cheaper and focus on drilling for oil in the United States. Abolition of unused IRA dollars If elected. Last week, he called the Green New Deal the “new green scam” at an event at the Economic Club of New York.
One thing is certain: Industry analysts expect energy demand to increase significantly regardless of November’s outcome.
“There are many, many new demands, especially in the power sector, there are many new demands from the transportation sector, from electrification, from data centers, from artificial intelligence. All of this adds up to a lot of demand for electricity,” Bressett said. . “It’s almost hard to imagine how much more energy we will need in the future.”
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