Building Decarbonization and Energy Efficiency Creates More Jobs in Colorado
In Colorado, residential and commercial buildings are primary sources of climate and air pollution. Together, they account for roughly one-quarter of the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and significantly contribute to poor air quality — both indoors and outdoors.
By improving energy efficiency and electrifying our buildings, Colorado can lead the way in integrating our homes and businesses into our clean energy future. Energy efficient electric appliances, ranging from heat pump hot water heaters and clothes dryers, induction cooktops, and air source heat pumps for heating and cooling, can drastically cut indoor and outdoor air pollution while lowering monthly utility bills. As Colorado’s electricity grid becomes cleaner, the benefits of switching to electric appliances will be multiplied. Moving to electric appliances is a simple solution to improve air quality, combat climate change, and continue to grow the state’s clean energy economy.
COVID-19 has wrought havoc on Colorado’s job market, and clean energy jobs have not gone unscathed. According to a recent report from E2, the pandemic-fueled economic crisis wiped out Colorado’s entire 2019 job growth in the energy efficiency sector i. While these losses are reflective of the hardship faced by many industries during the pandemic, E2 reports reveal they also represent a ripe opportunity for economic recovery and growth through innovative policies that support energy efficiency in Colorado.
Energy Efficiency — the largest energy sector in the US — encompasses an array of jobs across building design and construction, technologies, efficient appliances, and energy systems. From manufacturing and educating to distribution and installation, energy efficiency jobs compose a diverse, robust and growing industry with significant economic and environmental benefits.
Prior to the 2020 pandemic, energy efficiency workers in Colorado e experienced steady and impressive growth, growing 21.3% since 2016, and had optimistic projections for continued record-breaking expansion. In 2019, when clean energy jobs increased by more than 4% for the second year in a row, the state’s clean energy workforce reached 62,400 workers. The pandemic sent shockwaves through Colorado’s energy sector, slowing if not completely halting manufacturing and implementation of energy-efficient products and services, disrupting supply chains, and resulting in massive job loss and the reversal of historic growth.
2020’s blow to energy efficiency workers and businesses has caused ripple effects across Colorado’s entire economy. Energy efficiency growth helps the state’s entire economy grow, but this setback could be felt for years if lawmakers refuse to address it.
While this industry and it’s workforce have suffered over the past year, clean energy has huge potential to repower Colorado’s economy. Before the -pandemic, clean energy jobs in Colorado were increasing at twice the rate as overall statewide employment. And this industry was critical to job growth in the wake of the last economic crisis, with a few hundred thousand efficiency workers in 2009 expanding to nearly 2.4 million nationwide in just ten years2019. With effective policy support, this sector is uniquely positioned to quickly replace lost clean energy jobs and create thousands of new jobs.
E2 and E4Thefuture’s recent Build Back Better, Faster report indicates that a federal stimulus package targeting energy efficiency, renewables, and grid modernization would generate over 16,000 jobs and $1.3 billion for Colorado’s economy every year over five years. This type of stimulus would also create energy cost savings, produce accessible, high-quality jobs that cannot be outsourced, increase tax revenues, and contribute to GDP. Right now, every job counts and each worker returning to or joining the energy efficiency sector is a step toward economic recovery.
The quality of energy efficiency jobs is another encouraging factor for implementing policy solutions which center this industry. Not only are median hourly wages for energy efficiency energy jobs across the U.S.about 28%higher than the overall nationwide median wage, they are also more likely to come with health care and retirement benefits than other private sector jobs. In Colorado, where energy efficiency employs 58% of all clean energy workers, the median hourly clean energy wage of $23.12 is more than 20% higher than the national median..
Colorado policy makers must consider the energy efficiency sector in their efforts to get Coloradans back to work quickly, jumpstart economic recovery, and create a more just and sustainable future for the state. State lawmakers must advance energy efficiency programs, push for regulations and efficient infrastructure in the building sector, and ensure the electricity sector adheres to its emissions goals. Supporting the energy efficiency sector in these ways is critical to economic recovery and will create a foundation for a thriving economy in Colorado for decades to come.
E2 Reports:
