Wages,
Benefits,
and Change
A Supplemental Report to the Annual
U.S. Energy and Employment ReportU S E N E R G YJ O B S . O R GWAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

ABOUTBW Research Partnership (BW Research) is a full-service
applied research firm and a national leader in economic andworkforce impact research. BW Research has substantial
experience developing customized research projects and a
deep understanding of the energy sector and its employers,
workforce, and supply chain dynamics. The firm has
designed and conducted more than 500 studies for public,
private, and not-for-profit organizations globally that havedirectly impacted federal, state, and local initiatives. For
more information on BW Research or to view other reports
and publications, please visit https://bwresearch.com/.
Phil Jordan
Vice President, BW Research
pjordan@bwresearch.com
508.384.2471
The National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
is the only national non-profit association for the governordesignated energy officials from each of the 56 states andterritories. Formed by the states in 1986, NASEO facilitatespeer learning among state energy officials, serves as aresource for and about state energy offices, and advocates
for the interests of the state energy offices to Congress andfederal agencies. For more information about NASEO, please
visit www.naseo.org.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Sandy Fazeli
Managing Director, Policy
sfazeli@naseo.org
703.299.8800 x117

ii

The Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) advances solutions tothe climate crisis through building coalitions, thought
leadership, and science-based analysis. Founded June 2017,
EFI focuses on conducting pragmatic, technically grounded
analyses to inform federal, regional, state, and local
stakeholders on how to address the climate crisis. In keepingwith our principle of analytical independence, EFI-produced
content is branded and published on its website. For more
information about EFI or to view reports and publications,please visit www.energyfuturesinitiative.org.
Jeanette Pablo
General Counsel & Senior Advisor
jmpablo@energyfuturesinitiative.org
202.468.9688
David Ellis
Director of Strategic Communications & Policy
ddellis@energyfuturesinitiative.org
202.688.0042

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

PROJECT TEAMADVISORS
Ernest MonizCEO and Founder
Energy Futures Initiative

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORSMelanie Kenderdine
Principal
Energy Futures Initiative

David Terry
Executive Director
National Associationof State Energy Officials

Joseph S. Hezir
Principal
Energy Futures Initiative

PROJECT DIRECTOR
Phil Jordan
Vice President
BW Research Partnership
LEAD AUTHOR
Sarah Lehmann
Project Manager
BW Research Partnership
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
Jeanette Pablo
General Counsel
Energy Futures Initiative
Sandy Fazeli
Managing Director, Policy
National Associationof State Energy Officials
Ryan Young
Research Manager
BW Research PartnershipDavid Ellis
Vice President,
Strategic Communications and Policy
Energy Futures Initiative
Natalie Volk
Communications Associate
Energy Futures Initiative
Ethan King
Legal, Business,and Research Fellow
Energy Futures Initiative
Jordan Gallagher
Communications Fellow
Energy Futures Initiative
Matt Mansfield
Chief Executive Officer
MG Strategy + Design
Cobi Frongillo
Research Analyst
BW Research Partnership|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Mitchell Schirch
Senior Research Analyst
BW Research Partnershipiii

PEER REVIEWERS
Annelies Goger, Ph.D.
David M. Rubenstein Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings InstituteMissy Henriksen
Executive Director, Center for Energy Workforce Development
Roxanne Johnson
Research Director, Blue Green Alliance
Bob Simon, Ph.D.
Former Staff Director, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate,
and former Principal Advisor to the Director for Energy, Transportation and Resources,
Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
The Project Team would like to extend our sincere appreciation
to our Peer Reviewers for their thoughtful, insightful, and expert contribution
to the quality and content of this report.

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G S

87–106%

Increase in natural gas,
renewable energy, andpetroleum production
from 2000 to 201937%

Decrease in domestic
coal production between
2000 and 2019

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT915,000

iv

New jobs createdby the energy industry
over 2015-19, almost
11 percent of thenation’s job growth

73,000

14–22%

Growth in energy jobs
in professional services,
repair and maintenance,and mining and extraction
over 2016-19—outpacing
construction (+5%),
manufacturing (+5%)
and wholesale trade (-14%)

New jobs createdin petroleum andnatural gas fuels
over 2015–19,
a 9% increase

17,000Jobs lost over
2015-19 in the coalfuels sector, an
18% decline

83,000New jobs createdin solar and windelectric power
generation
over 2015-19,
a 22% increase» A detailed explanation of key findings begins on page 4

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G SGEOGRAPHIC SHIFTS

California, Texas,
Florida and New York
have added thousandsof natural gas electric
power generation jobs.

Ohio had the highest number of coalelectric power generation workers at
the end of 2019 but shed 25 percent of
its coal generation workforce—just over
4,000 jobs—between 2016 and 2019.
Total jobs,
201912,297

Jobs lost,
2016–19-4,078|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Texas, California,Louisiana and Oklahoma
have seen major gains
in their petroleum
fuels workforce.

v

Jobs gained, 2016–19
TX 39,257▲22.4%
CA
8,737▲18.0%
LA
6,679▲14.8%
OK
6,547▲19.3%

12%

Jobs gained, 2016–19
CA
3,565▲21.0%
TX
2,966 ▲60.4%
FL
2,697 ▲22.0%
NY
1,305▲32.1%

Change,2016–19▼24.9%

Kentucky’s coal fuels sector, which
includes mining, extraction, processing,and production, was hard hit between 2016
and 2019, shedding almost 4,400 jobs.
Total jobs,
2019
7,839

19
COVID- CI
M
PANDE

Decline in energy
employment, compared
to 20% decline nationwide,at the peak of job losses
during April 2020

Jobs lost,
2016–19-4,396

Change,2016–19▼35.9%

323,880

Energy jobs added backover June–December 2020,
after losing 1.08 million
over March–May

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G S

ENERGY WAGES$25.60

Energy workers’
median hourly wage,
34% higher thannational median$19.14|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

National medianhourly wages acrossentire U.S. economy

vi

95%–120%

Premium of energy job wages over theretail and accommodation and food service sectors,
which have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic$41.08Median wage for energy utility
employees, the highest of allindustry segments and 115%
above the national median.
Mining and extraction jobs arenext highest at $36.32. Utilities
account for 7.2% of totalenergy employment.

UTILITY WORKERS
The utilities industry
supports the highest hourly
wage of all industries
compared to the national
median. Electric power
generation and transmission,
distribution, and storage
are the only sectors
with utilities jobs.

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G S

43%Wage premium for an energy worker
in the mining industry compared to the averagemining employee. Energy workers earn suchpremiums in wholesale trade (29%) and repair
and maintenance (21%) as well. Mining accounts
for 6.4% of total energy employment.

42%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTElectric power generation
sector’s wage premium
over the national median.
These jobs account for 10.7%of total energy employment.

vii

63%

Transmission, distribution,and storage sector’s
wage premium over thenational median. These jobs
account for 16.5% of total
employment.

HEALTHCARE BENEFITS

65%–100%

Workers in select energy occupations
who receive either full or partial healthcare
coverage from their employers.
Of the 41 energy occupations examined
across all major energy technology sectors—
including solar photovoltaic installers,carpenters, wellhead pumpers, electricians,
sales representatives, and automotive service
technicians—nearly all report above-average
provision of healthcare benefits.

Energy wages
are morelikely to varyby industry
segments,
such asmanufacturing,mining, orutilities, thanby technology
sectors.

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G S

INDUSTRIES
66%

Electric power transmission
and distribution industry’s
wage premium. These jobs
account for 9.9% of totalenergy employment.

50%

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SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Coal industry’s wage
premium. These jobs accountfor 2.2% of total energy
employment.

viii

UNIONIZATION& ENERGY JOBS
Unionization is typicallyindicative of job quality
for energy workers; thisincludes wages, benefits,
skills training, and work
readiness.

105%

Nuclear industry’s wage
premium over the national
median. These jobs accountfor 0.8% of total energy
employment.

59%

Natural gas industry’s
wage premium. These jobs
account for 7.6% of totalenergy employment.

27%

Wage premium for energy
storage jobs. These jobs
account for 1.0% of totalenergy employment.

But current
datasets from multiple
federal government
sources report varying
union membership rates
across industry segments,
creating difficulties aroundextrapolating energyspecific unionization
rates.

W AG E S , B E N E
WAEFFIITTSS,, A
ANNDD CCHHAANNGGEE : K E Y F I N D I N G S

SECTORS
WHERE WORKERS EARN MORE THAN THE NATIONAL MEDIANElectric power
Fuels:
Transmission
Energygeneration:
All sub& distribution, efficiency:
Nearlytechnologies grid modernAll suball subization, andsectors
technologies
energy storage:
All sub-technologies

Motorvehicles:All subsectors

LOWER-PAYING ENERGY JOBS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Agricultural n Production n Construction n Insulation n Roustabouts n Assemblers
workers
helperslaborers
workers
and fabricatorsix

The few energy jobs that pay below national medians
do so because they fall within industry or occupational groups
that already earn below national medians.
n Read a detailed analysis on page 6

17%

Share of part-timers
in the U.S. workforce
who may not be
included in Census
unemployment data,
which is typically basedon full-time employeeswith unemployment
insurance.

99.8%

U.S. counties withenergy efficiency jobs,
which grew in almost
every state over 2016-19

W A G E S , BENEFITS,
B E N E F I T SAND
, AND
CHANGEWAGES,
CHANGE:CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS

The data presented in this report offers a valuable
opportunity for a deeper understanding of the roleof energy jobs in the U.S. economy and the lives ofworkers. It is important to understand that wages,
job quality, and opportunity are based on a variety
of factors, including qualifications, experience,and training, as well as technology and industry.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

To support economic recovery and address energy
transition impacts on communities, policymakers
at all levels should prioritize workforce funding
and programming to support the continued
development and expansion of pipelines to gainfulenergy careers, particularly for disadvantaged
communities and workers.

x

The Department of Energy should consider leading
an effort to provide more granular detail on theskill competencies of energy occupations to mirror
the level of detail available from O*NET for standard
occupations across the U.S. economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered
Apprenticeship program could be refined to include
more pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeshipfunding, which would support longer development
pipelines while offering workers the opportunity
to learn and earn.
Policymakers at the federal, state, and local level
can use the trends and findings presented in thisreport as a springboard to examine the impacts ofand potential responses to energy and workforce
transitions at the local and state level.

W A G E S , BENEFITS,
B E N E F I T SAND
, AND
CHANGEWAGES,
CHANGE:CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS

The Department of Energy should consider engaging
states to explore pathways to increase certificationand licensure reciprocity for skilled energy labor.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTState Energy Offices can use energy employment,
wages, and benefits data in order to understandthe geographic, industrial, and occupational
implications of various energy policy mechanisms
and investment strategies.

xi

Unionization is typically indicative of job quality
for energy workers yet federal unionization data
varies widely. To address this important issue,
the National Economic Council should consider
convening relevant stakeholders, such as the
Department of Energy Office of Jobs, the Bureauof Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Energy
Information Administration, and labor unions toestablish protocols and methodologies for gathering
more granular, accurate, and reliable data on
unionization rates in the energy sector.
Deeper investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s
impact and energy transition is required for acomprehensive understanding of the profiles of
the jobs that will be created, lost, and changed,
including the accessibility of these energy jobs,
wages and benefits, and opportunities for worker
mobility and advancement.
» For details on each of these considerations,
turn to page 13

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table of Contents

xii

About ............................................................................................................................ ii
Project Team .............................................................................................................. iii
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... xii
List of Figures........................................................................................................... xiii
List of Tables ............................................................................................................ xiv
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 1
Key Findings ............................................................................................................................... 4
Considerations for Policymakers ....................................................................................... 13
Chapter 1: Research Methodology Overview ........................................................ 17
Employment .............................................................................................................................. 17
Wages & Benefits .................................................................................................................... 19
Geography .................................................................................................................................. 21
Demographics ........................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 2: Energy Trends in the 21st Century ....................................................... 23
Energy Production & Employment Trends ................................................................... 23
The Impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. Energy Jobs in 2020.......................................... 37
Chapter 3: Energy Job Wages Explained ............................................................ 40
What makes this report different? .................................................................................. 40
What do energy jobs pay? ..................................................................................................43
What determines energy sector wages?....................................................................... 45
Chapter 4: Industry Crosscuts ................................................................................ 46
Coal ..............................................................................................................................................48
Electric Power Transmission & Distribution ................................................................ 50
Energy Efficiency .................................................................................................................... 52
Hydropower ..............................................................................................................................54
Natural Gas ................................................................................................................................ 56
Nuclear ........................................................................................................................................ 58
Petroleum ................................................................................................................................. 60
Solar ............................................................................................................................................. 62
Storage (excluding fossil fuels)........................................................................................ 64
Wind.............................................................................................................................................66
Chapter 5: Energy Technology Sectors ................................................................ 68
Electric Power Generation .................................................................................................. 68
Fuels .............................................................................................................................................. 81
Transmission, Distribution, and Storage ......................................................................... 91
Energy Efficiency ....................................................................................................................99
Motor Vehicles ....................................................................................................................... 107
Appendix A: Energy Wages by State ................................................................... 114

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

List of Figuresxiii

Figure 1. Five Major Technology Sectors in the Energy Industry ................................................ 19
Figure 2. Nine Industry Segments Containing Energy and Energy-Related Jobs................ 19
Figure 3. Primary Energy Production by Source, 2000-2019 ..................................................... 24
Figure 4. Changes in U.S. Energy Consumption, 1980-2015 ........................................................ 26
Figure 5. U.S. Energy Jobs Change, March 2020 – December 2020........................................ 38
Figure 6. Coal Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ...............................................................................49
Figure 7. Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Jobs
by Industry Segment, 2019 ................................................................................................... 51
Figure 8. Energy Efficiency Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ..................................................... 53
Figure 9. Hydropower Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ............................................................... 55
Figure 10. Natural Gas Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ............................................................... 57
Figure 11. Nuclear Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ........................................................................ 59
Figure 12. Petroleum Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ................................................................... 61
Figure 13. Solar Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ............................................................................. 63
Figure 14. Storage Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ....................................................................... 65
Figure 15. Wind Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019 ............................................................................ 67
Figure 16. Electricity Generation Mix, 2000 ....................................................................................... 69
Figure 17. Electricity Generation Mix, 2019 ......................................................................................... 69
Figure 18. EPG Employment by Sub-technology, 2015-2019 ........................................................ 71
Figure 19. EPG Employment by Industry, 2018-2019 ...................................................................... 73
Figure 20. Fuels Employment by Sub-technology, 2015-2019 ................................................... 83
Figure 21. Fuels Employment by Industry, 2018-2019 ....................................................................84
Figure 22. TDS Employment by Sub-technology, 2016-2019 ...................................................... 92
Figure 23. TDS Employment by Industry, 2018-2019...................................................................... 93
Figure 24. Energy Efficiency Employment by Sub-Technology, 2016-2019........................100
Figure 25. Energy Efficiency Employment by Industry, 2018-2019.......................................... 101
Figure 26. Motor Vehicles Employment by Sub-technology, 2017-2019 .............................. 108
Figure 27. Motor Vehicles Employment by Industry, 2018-2019 .............................................. 109

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

List of Tables

xiv

Table 1. Cumulative Energy Job Losses by State, March – December 2020 ......................... 39
Table 2. Industry Crosscut Example ....................................................................................................... 41
Table 3. Five Energy Technology Sectors & Component Sub-Technologies........................ 42
Table 4. Energy Wages by Technology Sector................................................................................. 43
Table 5. Energy Wages by Industry Segment .................................................................................. 44
Table 6. Overall Industry Crosscut Wages, 2019 .............................................................................. 47
Table 7. Coal Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .............................................................................49
Table 8. Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .... 51
Table 9. Energy Efficiency Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .................................................. 53
Table 10. Hydropower Wages by Industry Segment, 2019........................................................... 55
Table 11. Natural Gas Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .............................................................. 57
Table 12. Nuclear Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 ..................................................................... 59
Table 13. Petroleum Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 ................................................................ 61
Table 14. Solar Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .......................................................................... 63
Table 15. Storage Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 .................................................................... 65
Table 16. Wind Wages by Industry Segment, 2019 ......................................................................... 67
Table 17. EPG Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019 ................................................................. 74
Table 18. EPG Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages .............................................................. 76
Table 19. Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019 ........................................ 77
Table 20. Top 10 States with Job Losses in Coal Electric Power Generation ....................... 78
Table 21. Top 10 States with Job Growth in Natural Gas Electric Power Generation ........ 79
Table 22. EPG Demographics by Sub-technology, 2019 .............................................................. 80
Table 23. Fuels Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019 .............................................................. 85
Table 24. Fuels Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages ........................................................... 86
Table 25. Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019 ....................................... 87
Table 26. Top 10 States with Job Losses in Coal Fuels.................................................................. 88
Table 27. Top 10 States with Job Growth in Petroleum Fuels .................................................... 89
Table 28. Fuels Demographics by Sub-technology, 2019 ............................................................ 90
Table 29. TDS Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019 ................................................................94
Table 30. TDS Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages ............................................................. 95
Table 31. Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019 ........................................ 96
Table 32. Top 10 States with Job Growth in Traditional Transmission & Distribution ....... 97
Table 33. Top 5 States with Job Losses in Traditional Transmission & Distribution .......... 97
Table 34. TDS Demographics, 2019 ....................................................................................................... 98
Table 35. Energy Efficiency Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019 ................................... 102
Table 36. Energy Efficiency Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages ................................ 103
Table 37. Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019 ..................................... 104
Table 38. Top 10 States with Job Growth in Energy Efficiency................................................ 105
Table 39. Energy Efficiency Demographics, 2019 .......................................................................... 106
Table 40. Motor Vehicles Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019........................................ 109
Table 41. Motor Vehicles Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages ....................................... 110
Table 42. Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019 ........................................111
Table 43. Top 10 States with Job Growth in Motor Vehicles .......................................................112
Table 44. Top 10 States with Job Losses in Motor Vehicles ........................................................112
Table 45. Motor Vehicle Demographics, 2019 ...................................................................................113

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

Executive Summary
Wages, Benefits, and Change: A Supplemental Report to the U.S. Energy
and Employment Report (Wage Report) provides important insights forunderstanding the role of U.S. energy jobs in the 21st century.1 The
nation’s energy industry is a significant employer of individuals acrossthe United States. At the end of 2019, the five major energy technology
sectors2 employed more than 8.27 million workers, accounting for 5.4
percent of the approximately 150 million jobs in the United States. In
just four years, these sectors created about 915,000 new jobs, almost 11
percent of all employment growth in the nation between 2015 and 2019.
In fact, energy jobs in the U.S. grew at almost twice the rate of theoverall economy during this time period.i The data and analyses
provided in this report can help to focus the attention of policymakers,
regulators, and the private sector on the underlying workforce
challenges and opportunities posed by changes in the nation’s energy
system over the 21st century.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe research presented in this report extends well beyond a discussion
on the quantity of jobs created and lost or the overall number of jobs ineach energy technology sector. Instead, it explores the changing mix ofenergy jobs and the impacts on energy sector wages, employment
benefits, accessibility, and the overall geographic distribution of energy
jobs in the United States. The Wage Report discusses how hourly wages
for energy jobs compare to national medians across both energy
technologies, such as coal, oil, natural gas, energy efficiency, solar, andwind, as well as industry segments, such as mining, construction,
manufacturing, utilities, wholesale trade, and professional services. The
report also discusses current and emerging impacts of changes in theenergy sector, including the geographic distribution of energy
employment and the demographic composition of the workforce. It is

1

important to note that wage comparisons across technology sectors
should be made with caution, as such comparisons would fail toconsider other important aspects of energy employment, including
accessibility, skill and education requirements, and geographic
distribution.
Over the last two decades, the U.S. energy sector has experienced
significant changes in how energy is produced, transported, stored, andconsumed. In general, national energy production has been shifting
away from coal and towards natural gas, petroleum, and renewablesources.3 This is due to a variety of factors, including advancements inenergy technologies, the abundance and low price of natural gas, andstate and federal policies promoting diverse energy sources andtechnologies. These transitions have had ripple effects on the U.S.
economy and the energy labor force. By increasing awareness of these

1 Energy jobs include all workers that dedicate any amount of their labor hours to the research,development, production, manufacture, distribution, sales, installation, and repair of energy and energyrelated goods and services. For more information on energy job definitions, please refer to the Research
Methodology Overview chapter.
2 These include Electric Power Generation; Fuels; Transmission, Distribution, and Storage; Energy
Efficiency; and Motor Vehicles.
3 The changing mix of technologies and fuel sources is discussed in further detail in the Energy Trends inthe 21st Century section of this report. Specifically, Figure 3 highlights energy production by source overthe last 20 years.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
trends and their impacts, this analysis can contribute to thedevelopment of policies and programs, particularly those designed for arobust post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery.
The Wage Report is equally important in its identification of the needfor more data and analysis on U.S. energy jobs. The U.S. Energy and
Employment Report (USEER) provides annual data on the energy
workforce at the national, state, and county level—the only dataset ofits kind in the United States, supplementing U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics employment data. However, the USEER publications typicallyfocus on national and state level data, which are valuable in identifying
overarching trends, but are unable to describe the impacts of energy
labor market changes on local communities. Additional wage andbenefits data collected with more geographic granularity in future years
may be paired with county-level energy employment data. These
additions would be a valuable expansion for informing policymakers
and stakeholders of how energy labor market changes are playing out
in their local jurisdiction, informing future policy strategies andrecommendations.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTA particularly significant gap underscored by this report is data on
unionization rates. At a high level, research suggests that unionization iscorrelated with higher wages, benefits, longevity, and opportunities forcareer mobility. Currently, data on unionization is collected by several
federal agencies, using different metrics, and resulting in a range ofunionization rates. Addressing these variations and developing robust
and consistent federal data is an important area for improvement, andwould assist policymakers, unions, employers, and workers in identifying
the benefits, and potential tradeoffs, that unionization can bring ineconomic recovery, energy labor market changes, workforce
development, and economic resilience.

2

Similarly, increased and improved federal data collection anddifferentiation as to whether major energy occupations offer full-time,
part-time, or seasonal employment would address gaps inunemployment data. Census unemployment data is typically based on
full-time employees with unemployment insurance and may fail to
include the part-time workers, who represent more than one in six
members—or 17 percent—of the U.S. workforce.ii A complete databaseon unemployed, part-time, and seasonally-employed workers would
provide a more accurate understanding of the necessary policies andmeasures to effectively reduce unemployment and underemployment.
This improved data would also inform the types of employment offeredby major energy occupations, further improving understanding ofenergy job wages and benefits.4
While the focus of this report is mostly on wages and benefits, it is also
important to recognize that understanding the implications of changes
in the national energy landscape also requires a deeper understandingof educational and training requirements for growing sectors of the

4 The exclusion of project-based, part-time, or seasonal energy workers may impact wages, though theresearch team is not currently able to determine what percentage of energy workers are excluded in thisanalysis. Future research and data collection efforts aim to gather more granular data on whatpercentage of the energy workforce are full-time, part-time, seasonal, and project-based workers.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
energy labor market. Understanding the skills and education,
apprenticeships, vocational training, and certifications needed forenergy-related work sheds light on the accessibility of various energy
jobs. For example, the preference for apprenticeships and vocational
technical training—over for example, four-year college or post-graduate
degrees—in many energy efficiency and renewable energy occupations
suggests that these jobs may be more accessible to a wider population
due to the lower costs of educational attainment.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTFor policymakers and other energy, economic, and workforce
development stakeholders, a more precise understanding of wages andbenefits can inform the development of more effective policies andprograms. The need for targeted energy and workforce development
efforts is particularly timely, as policymakers seek to promote an
economic recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on
pre-pandemic data, the fast-growing sectors of the energy economy
provided higher hourly wages compared to jobs in industries that were
hardest hit by the global pandemic, such as retail, hospitality, and foodservice. The median hourly wage for all energy workers in the U.S. is$25.60, 34 percent higher than the national median hourly wage of$19.14. The overall hourly wage for energy jobs is also 95 percent and120 percent higher compared to the retail and accommodation andfood service industries, respectively.iii In fact, wages for energy sectors
with the lowest wage premiums, such as energy storage, energy
efficiency, solar, and wind are still higher than national wages, providing
at least a 27 percent premium above national median wages.

3

Though also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy industry
lost fewer jobs compared to other sectors of the economy. At the peakof job losses in April, the nation saw a roughly 20 percent decline in
employment, while the energy industry saw a 12 percent decline. As
public officials focus on recovery, the robust job creation record of theenergy sector from 2015 through 2019 can underscore the value ofenergy infrastructure and project investments. These investments could
reinvigorate the U.S. economy and create the quality jobs U.S. workers
need, while maintaining sight of intersecting challenges such as climatechange, resiliency, and public health. Strategic, data-informed, andeffective policymaking will be crucial to realizing these benefits.
This report supplements the annual United States Energy and
Employment Report (USEER), which is jointly produced by the National
Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and the Energy Futures
Initiative (EFI). The analyses presented in this report synthesize datafrom the 2020 USEER, a supplemental wage survey administered toenergy sector employers in 2018 and 2019, Five-Year Trends: The
USEER 2016-2020, monthly reports by BW Research on the impacts of
COVID-19 on energy sector employment,iv and various publicly available
datasets through the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This research
examines the recent history and current context of the energy labormarket but does not attempt to predict the future of energy
employment in the United States.
Together with BW Research, NASEO and EFI seek to inform deeper
understanding of U.S. energy jobs, including key drivers of change inthe 21st century.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
The following key findings are a synthesis of the important highlightsfrom the Wage Report and the Five-Year Report, including overall
energy trends in the U.S.—both production and employment—and an
overview of wages across the different energy sectors.

Key Findings
Energy Production & Employment Trends
Energy employment in the U.S. was on the rise from 2015 through 2019.
Over these five years, the energy industry5 created almost 915,000 new
jobs. Energy employment across the nation grew by 12 percent, double
the rate of the overall U.S. labor market. New energy jobs from 2015
through 2019 accounted for almost 11 percent of total job growth in thenation.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

From 2016 through 2019, energy employment in professional services,
repair and maintenance, and mining and extraction experienced greater
growth compared to other industries such as construction or
manufacturing. Energy jobs in the former industry segments grew byroughly 14 to 22 percent, whereas construction and manufacturingexperienced a job growth rate of five percent each, and wholesaletrade6 declined by 14 percent. Energy jobs within the agricultureindustry also grew by about 12 percent from 2016 through 2019 while
utility employment declined by less than one percent.

4Over the last two decades, energy production in the United States has
trended away from coal and towards natural gas, petroleum, andrenewables. Between 2000 and 2019, domestic coal production
declined by 37 percent, or 8.5 quadrillion BTUs.7 Over the same time
period, the production of natural gas grew by 87 percent (19.4
quadrillion BTUs), while renewable energy production grew by 89
percent (5.4 quadrillion BTUs) and petroleum grew by 106 percent (13.1
quadrillion BTUs).
These energy production trends are also mirrored in employmentchanges. Employment in petroleum and natural gas fuels grew by
73,000 jobs—almost nine percent between 2015 and 2019. Over thesame time period, the coal fuels sector saw employment decline by 18
percent—or 17,000 jobs. Together, solar and wind electric power
generation created almost 83,000 jobs during the same time frame, agrowth rate of 22 percent.

5 Energy jobs include all workers that dedicate any amount of their labor hours to the research,development, production, manufacture, distribution, sales, installation, and repair of energy and energyrelated goods and services. For more information on energy job definitions, please refer to the Research
Methodology Overview chapter.
6 Wholesale trade includes wholesale equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers of goods that arelinked to the energy industry (including motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and building materials).
Also included in this category is all employment related to the pipeline transportation of fuels and thetransport (via truck, rail, air, and water) of energy commodities such as coal, fuel oil, gas, motor vehicles,
and petroleum.
7 This is due to a combination of mechanization of the mining process as well as lower coal demand both
domestically and internationally.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
Shifts in dominant fuel sources and energy technologies are creating
new geographic concentrations of energy jobs across the nation,
particularly in the electric power generation and fuels technology
sectors. Coal, oil, natural gas, solar, wind, and biofuel resources are
specific to geographic regions in the United States, and this resource
distribution determines the regional spread of energy jobs in these
sectors. Some of these shifts are resulting in job losses in parts of thecountry that have historically been considered key regions for
traditional energy jobs. For example, Ohio had the highest number ofcoal electric power generation workers at the end of 2019 but shed 25
percent of its coal generation workforce—just over 4,000 jobs—
between 2016 and 2019 (Table 20). At the same time, California, Texas,
Florida, and New York have added thousands of natural gas electric
power generation jobs (see Table 21). Similarly, Kentucky’s coal fuels
sector, which includes mining, extraction, processing, and production,
was hard-hit between 2016 and 2019, shedding almost 4,400 jobs (seeTable 26), while other states like Texas, California, Louisiana, andOklahoma have seen major gains in their petroleum fuels workforce (seeTable 27).

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTEnergy efficiency installation, maintenance, and repair jobs are unique inthat they are ubiquitous across the United States. Energy efficiency jobs
are found across 99.8 percent of all counties in the United States; this isdue to the fact that energy efficiency technologies and services areapplicable to commercial, industrial, and residential sectors across the
economy. Unlike many other energy jobs which are more dependent on
the concentration of either renewable or fossil fuel resources andinfrastructures, installation, maintenance, and repair jobs in the energy
efficiency sector are more universally distributed. In fact, out of the over
3,000 counties in the U.S., energy efficiency jobs are located in all but
six.8 In addition, energy efficiency jobs grew in almost every state
between 2016 and 2019.

5

The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant job losses in
the U.S. energy industry, but the energy sector lost a smaller proportionof jobs compared to other sectors of the economy. Between Marchthrough May 2020, the energy industry lost 1.1 million jobs, accounting
for about 3.5 percent of the total 31.4 million jobs lost in the UnitedStates. In comparison, the following industry clusters experienced ahigher percent of job losses: Tourism, Hospitality, and Recreation;
Information and Communications; Other Services (including repair andmaintenance); Defense, Aerospace, and Transportation Manufacturing;
Retail; Professional and Business Services; and Building and Design. At
the peak of job losses in April, the nation saw a roughly 20 percent
decline in employment, while the energy industry saw a 12 percent
decline in jobs. From June through December, the energy industry
added back roughly 324,000 jobs to the economy, though it remains
nine percent below peak employment at the end of 2019. COVID-19
energy job losses were concentrated across the energy efficiency andfuels technology sectors.

8 Taliaferro County, GA; Quitman County, GA; Kalawao County, HI; Loup County, NE; McPherson County,

NE; and King County, TX.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

Energy Wages Overview

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

In general, energy sector employees earn higher hourly wages
compared to the national median and other sectors of the economy;
this is true across all energy technology sectors and nearly all energy
industry segments. The median hourly wage for all energy workers in
the U.S. sits at $25.60; this is 34 percent higher than the national
median hourly wage of $19.14. Across all major energy technology
sectors and nearly all industries, with the exception of agriculture,energy workers earn more per hour than national median wages (seeTable 4 and Table 5). On average, energy jobs also earn a respective 95
and 120 percent more than specific sectors that have been hard-hit by
the pandemic like retail or accommodation and food service, whichhave respective national median hourly wages of $13.16 and $11.64.v
There are a few energy jobs that pay below national medians; these jobs
earn less because they fall within industry or occupational groups that
already earn below national medians. Of all industries with energyrelated employment, energy workers in the agriculture industry, which
accounts for less than one percent of total energy employment, earn 45
percent below the national median wage of $19.14. This is because themedian hourly wage for the agriculture industry overall sits at $13.18,
which is already lower than the national median wage (see Table 5).
Furthermore, of all the occupations examined within each major
technology sector, energy-specific production helpers, construction
laborers, insulation workers, roustabouts, and assemblers andfabricators earn below national medians. The lower wages associatedwith these energy jobs are largely because these occupational groups
overall—including both energy and non-energy workers—earn below theoverall national median or the associated industry-specific median.
Additionally, utility workers within hydropower, who account for lessthan one percent of total energy employment, earn roughly 2.9 percent
below the overall national utility industry wage (see Table 10), while
coal mining and transportation workers earn a respective 2.7 and 29.4
below the national industry averages for mining and transportation
employees (see Table 7). Out of all sub-technologies discussed in thereport, the non-wind or solar renewable generation sub-sector9 has amedian hourly wage that is about nine percent below the national
median; these jobs represent about 1.5 percent of total energy
employment (see Table 17 and Table 18).

9 This includes geothermal, low-impact and traditional hydropower, bioenergy, and combined heat and|.

power electricity generation.

6

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
Energy Wages by Industry Segmentvi

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Percentof Total
Employment,
2019

-31%

35,616

0.4%

43%

90%

535,210

6.4%$37.5010%

115%

601,2257.2%$25.53$23.578%33%

2,142,087

25.6%$23.02$20.4613%

20%

1,778,343

21.3%(Energy
Workers)(OverallIndustry)

Agriculture10$13.18$13.180%Mining andExtraction11$36.32$25.44

Utilities$41.08Construction
Manufacturing
Wholesale
Trade12
Transportation(commodity
flows)
Professional
Services$19.94$15.4729%

4%860,66110.3%$36.08$34.31

5%

89%285,375

3.4%$28.17$25.959%47%

1,057,995

12.6%

Other Services(incl. Repair andMaintenance)$19.68$16.3321%

3%1,068,244

12.8%

National Median
Wage

|.

Total
Employment,
2019

MedianHourlyWage

Industry

7

Premium/
Premium/ DiscountDiscountComparedCompared to National
to Overall
Median ofIndustry$19.14

MedianHourlyWage$19.14

Utility and mining and extraction workers have the highest absolute
hourly wages of all industry segments. Utility employees receive a
median hourly wage of $41.08—115 percent above the national median
wage of $19.14 and 10 percent higher than the overall median wage forall utility workers, which is $37.50. Energy workers in the mining
industry earn $36.32 per hour, 90 percent above the overall national
median of $19.14 (see Table 5). Utility jobs account for about 7.2 percent
of total energy employment while mining jobs account for 6.4 percent
of total energy employment.
However, energy workers in mining, wholesale trade, and repair andmaintenance earn the highest wage premiums compared to eachindustry’s overall median wage. This means that energy workers inthese respective industries earn more than the average worker in each
10 Energy-related jobs in agriculture are based entirely on publicly available data. The overall national

agriculture industry wage is used here, as opposed to an energy-specific wage extrapolation. Because
BLS does not provide agriculture wages to the six-digit NAICS level, $13.18 is the best proxy estimate forenergy jobs in the agriculture industry. Though this is the only wage data point that does not use USEERderived premiums or discounts, it is unlikely that an agriculture worker growing crops for fuels comparedto other purposes will receive significantly different wages. Professional service occupations, such as
scientific research, engineering, or sales are found in the “professional services” industry segment within
the ethanol or biodiesel sub-technology sectors; premiums for these workers would be captured in theserespective segments.
11 This wage includes coal, oil, and natural gas mining and extraction but does not include support
activities for mining. Including mining and extraction support services would result in a median hourly
wage of $25.44.
12 The weighted median hourly wages for this industry segment include retail trade (NAICS 42-45).
Though the USEER excludes retail employment, fuel dealers (NAICS 454310) are surveyed as part of thedata collection effort.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
industry, which includes both energy and non-energy jobs. For example,
an energy worker in the mining industry makes 43 percent morecompared to the average mining employee, both energy and nonenergy.13 Energy workers in wholesale trade earn a 29 percent wage
premium compared to the overall wholesale trade industry while otherservices like repair and maintenance jobs support hourly wages that are
21 percent higher compared to the overall industry (see Table 5).
Wholesale trade employment accounts for about 10 percent of totalenergy employment while other services like repair and maintenancerepresent almost 13 percent of all energy jobs.
Largely due to their high concentration of utility jobs, workers in theelectric power generation and transmission, distribution, and storage
sectors earn the highest wage premium over the national median. At$27.19 per hour, electric power generation workers earn a premium thatis 42 percent higher than the national median wage of $19.14; thistechnology sector represents almost 11 percent of all energy jobs.
Energy workers in the transmission, distribution, and storage sector
account for 16.5 percent of all energy jobs and earn $31.25 per hour—63
percent above national median wages. The utilities industry supports
the highest hourly wage of all industries compared to the national
median (see Table 5), and utility workers account for a respective 21
and 30 percent of the electric power generation and transmission,
distribution, and storage workforce. In contrast, the other threetechnology sectors—fuels, energy efficiency, and motor vehicles—have
no utility jobs.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTEnergy Wages by Technology Sectorvii

8Technology
SectorMedianHourlyWage

Premium or
Discount14
Compared to
National
Median of$19.14

Electric Power
Generation$27.1942%896,830

1.5%

10.7%

Fuels

$23.8925%

1,148,893

6.9%

13.7%

Transmission,
Distribution &Storage$31.2563%

1,383,646

3.8%

16.5%

EnergyEfficiency$24.4428%

2,378,893

5.8%

28.4%

Motor Vehicles$22.2916%

2,556,492

3.8%

30.6%

Overall Energy
Industry$25.6034%

8,364,754

4.5%

National
Median Wage

Total
Employment,
2019

Employment
Growth,2017-2019

Percent of
Total Energy
Employment,2019$19.1413 Not all jobs in the mining industry are related to energy or fuel production. Some mining activity is

dedicated to metal ore and mineral mining; these non-energy-related jobs are not included in energy
employment and wage estimates, thus allowing for comparisons between energy-specific mining jobs andthe overall mining industry average, which includes both energy and non-energy jobs. Energy-related
mining workers earn a premium of 43 percent compared to the overall median hourly wage for all
workers in the mining industry (energy- and non-energy-related).
14 A “premium” is defined here as the percentage above the comparative wage. A “discount” would
indicate that the wage is below the comparative wage; this would be portrayed as a negative percentage.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
The key determinant in energy sector wages is industry mix. Thoughmany factors such as geography, educational and skill requirements,
and unionization rates contribute to median hourly wages, energy
wages are more likely to vary by industry segments, such as
manufacturing, mining, or utilities, than by technology sectors likeelectric power generation, fuels, energy efficiency, motor vehicles, ortransmission, distribution, and storage.
Many energy workers in the examined occupations are more likely toreceive healthcare and retirement benefits compared to national private
sector averages. Across the U.S., 69 percent of private sector
employees receive health insurance benefits and 67 percent receive
retirement contributions from their employer. Of the 41 energy
occupations examined in this report across all major energy technology
sectors—including solar photovoltaic installers, carpenters, wellhead
pumpers, electricians, sales representatives, and automotive service
technicians—nearly all occupations except for one had above-average
provision of healthcare benefits. Between 65 and 100 percent of
individuals in these occupations receive either full or partial healthcare
coverage from their employers. Across electric power generation,transmission, distribution, and storage, fuels, and motor vehicles, nearly
all examined occupations except for one (solar photovoltaic installers)
are also above the national average in terms of retirement
contributions. Retirement provisions vary most in the energy efficiency
sector, where the majority of examined occupations fall below thenational average, with the exception of plumbers, construction tradesupervisors, and construction managers (see Table 19 and Table 25 andTable 31 and Table 37 and Table 42).

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SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Industry Crosscut Wages

9

The nuclear, electric power transmission and distribution, natural gas,and coal industries support the highest wage premiums compared to
the national median. These four energy industries support hourly wages
that are at least 50 percent higher than the national median hourly
wage of $19.14. The nuclear industry in particular supports a high hourly
wage; at $39.19, these jobs earn 105 percent more than the national
median but account for less than one percent of total energy jobs.
Electric power transmission and distribution jobs comprise about one inten energy jobs and support hourly wages of $31.80—66 percent above
the national median—while natural gas and coal workers earn arespective 59 and 50 percent above the national median (see Table 6).
Natural gas jobs represent 7.6 percent of total energy employment
while coal jobs account for 2.2 percent of all energy jobs.
Hourly wages for the energy industries with the lowest premiums—
energy storage, energy efficiency, solar, and wind—are still significantly
higher than national median hourly wages. Workers in the energy
storage, energy efficiency, solar, and wind industries earn at least 27
percent above national median hourly wages, with wind workers
earning as much as 36 percent above the national median.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
Overall Industry Crosscut Wages, 201915
Industry
CrosscutMedianHourly Wage

Premium or
DiscountCompared to
National
MedianTotal
Employment,
2019

Percent of
Total Energy
Employment,
2019

Nuclear$39.19104.8%

70,3230.8%

Electric Power
Transmission &Distribution$31.8066.1%

830,291

9.9%

Natural Gas$30.33

58.5%

636,043

7.6%

Coal

$28.6949.9%

185,689

2.2%

Hydropower$26.9740.9%

67,7720.8%

Oil$26.5938.9%839,831

10.0%

Wind

$25.95

35.6%

114,774

1.4%

Solar

$24.4827.9%345,393

4.1%

EnergyEfficiency
Storage (excl.
fossil fuels)$24.4427.7%

2,378,893

28.4%$24.3627.3%

80,5501.0%

National
Median Wage

$19.14|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTElectric Power Generation Sector

10

Natural gas has overtaken coal as the main fuel source in the nation’s
electricity generation mix. In 2000, coal accounted for 52 percent of thenational electricity generation mix while natural gas represented 16
percent. By 2019, natural gas produced 39 percent of the nation’s
electricity, followed by coal at 24 percent.viii Emissions standards, lownatural gas prices, and the efficiency of new natural gas turbine
technology is resulting in coal to natural gas conversions across thecountry. In 2019, 29 GW of coal-fired capacity was either converted toalso burn natural gas or completely replaced with natural gas combined
cycle plants.ix Accordingly, in 2019 alone, the natural gas generation
sub-sector added 7,500 utility sector jobs.
Workers in nearly all sub-technologies of the electric power generation
sector earn more per hour than national median wages. Nuclear andcoal generation have the highest median hourly wages; these sectors
support wages that are a respective 115 and 80 percent above thegeographically weighted wages. Natural gas electric power generation
jobs also support significantly higher wages, with a 77 percent wage
premium. Solar, oil, and wind electric power generation employees earn
wage premiums that are approximately 20 to 35 percent above national
wages, while other renewable electric power generation16 sub-15 Total employment in this table will not sum to total energy jobs in the U.S. for 2019 as these industry

crosscuts represent the sum of various sub-sectors across the energy industry but do not include allenergy-related jobs.
16 Other renewable generation includes geothermal, low-impact and traditional hydropower, bioenergy,
and combined heat and power.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
technologies have a wage discount of about nine percent below thegeographically weighted median (see Table 17).
All occupations examined within the electric power generation sector
pay hourly wages that are above the national median. Nuclear
occupations within electric power generation support some of thehighest wage premiums. Nuclear engineers, nuclear power reactor
operators, and nuclear technicians all earn more than double thenational median wage. Gas plant and power plant operators withinelectric power generation also earn more than double the national
median (see Table 18). Plumbers and carpenters earn a respective 51
and 33 percent above national wages, while supervisors of construction
trades within the electric power generation sector earn a wage
premium of 71 percent. Solar photovoltaic installers who are licensed
electricians earn a greater wage premium (34 percent wage premium)than non-licensed solar PV installers (13 percent wage premium).

Fuels Sector|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe U.S. is becoming a major global producer of natural gas andpetroleum fuels. In 2011, the United States surpassed Russia as theworld’s largest producer of natural gas, and in 2018, the U.S. surpassed
Saudi Arabia as the largest producer of petroleum. The increased
production in these two sub-sectors has contributed to energy
employment growth of almost nine percent in four years, creating
72,100 jobs. In fact, petroleum and natural gas account for the largest
source of jobs within the fuels technology sector, and within these two
sub-sectors, mining and extraction had the greatest growth in jobs in
2019.

11

Jobs in all fuels sub-technologies pay a premium over national wages.
Coal fuels workers earn the highest wage premium, at 37 percent above
the geographically weighted median hourly wage, followed by nuclear,
natural gas, and petroleum fuels (29 to 32 percent wage premium).
Renewable fuels jobs have a wage premium that is two percent above
the geographically weighted median (see Table 23).
While some occupations in the fuels sector pay above national wages,some pay less than the national median. Petroleum pump operators
earn $35.66 per hour, which is 86 percent above the geographicallyweighted median. Continuous mining machine operators, wellhead
pumpers, and rotary drill operators earn almost 40 percent above
national wages. Of the occupations examined, production worker
helpers and oil and gas roustabouts earn hourly wages that are below
the geographically weighted median (see Table 24).

Transmission, Distribution, and Storage Sector
Traditional transmission and distribution, grid modernization, andenergy storage workers earn more than national wages. These subsectors support wages that are at least 24 percent above thegeographically weighted median. Traditional transmission anddistribution workers earn $32.24 per hour—a 68 percent premium—WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
followed by grid modernization with a 34 percent premium and energy
storage workers with a 24 percent premium (see Table 29).
All transmission, distribution, and storage occupations examined earnmore than national wages. Power distributors and dispatchers, electricaland electronics repairers, and electrical power-line installers andrepairers earn more than double the geographically weighted median.
Construction laborers in the transmission, distribution, and storage
sector earn one percent above national wages (see Table 30).

Energy Efficiency Sector
Energy efficiency sub-sectors earn a wage premium roughly 23 to 25
percent above national wages. Workers across ENERGY STAR®
appliances, renewable heating and cooling, traditional and highefficiency HVAC, and efficient lighting sub-technologies all earn morethan the geographically weighted median (see Table 35).
Nearly all occupations examined in the energy efficiency sector earnmore than the overall construction industry’s median hourly wage.
Supervisory and managerial positions earn the highest wage premiums,
at a respective 35 and 98 percent above the geographically weighted
median for the construction industry (see Table 36). In contrast,
insulation workers and construction laborers earn less than the overall
construction industry’s median hourly wage. Electricians, plumbers, and
HVAC mechanics earn roughly 23 to 28 percent more than national
wages for the construction industry, while carpenters in the energy
efficiency sector earn 10 percent more than the average construction
worker in the United States.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Motor Vehicles Sector

12Workers across the motor vehicles sub-sectors earn more than national
median wages. The other alternative transportation sub-sector, which
includes natural gas, hydrogen, and fuel cell vehicles, pays 21 percent
above the geographically weighted median wage, followed by gasoline
and diesel motor vehicles (18 percent wage premium), and electric,
hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicle technologies (16 percent wage
premium) (see Table 40).
Sales and production supervisors receive the highest wage premiums inthe motor vehicles sector. Wholesale and manufacturing sales
representatives earn 103 percent more per hour than the geographicallyweighted median, while supervisors of production and operating
workers earn a 51 percent wage premium. Automotive repair andmaintenance mechanics earn between six to nine percent above
national wages, while welders in the motor vehicles sector receive a 15
percent wage premium. Motor vehicle assemblers and fabricators earn
16 percent below the geographically weighted median (see Table 41).

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE: CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS

Considerations for Policymakers|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe considerations offered below are based on the data and findingspresented in this report and, more generally, the current context of the
U.S. energy transition and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. At
the national level, a variety of federal agencies could potentially
implement energy sector workforce development and economic
recovery strategies. These agencies include the U.S. Department ofEnergy, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Interagency Working
Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic
Revitalization, among others. State and local agencies, including
through State Energy Offices, workforce development and commerce
agencies, and entities promoting education, career development, andtechnology commercialization, will also play crucial roles in advancing
high-quality jobs and opportunities in the energy sector. For thesereasons, multi-agency, federal-state-local, and public-private
coordination, including with union and labor partners, is a necessary
framework to prioritize and execute economic and job recovery
strategies. For the State Energy Offices, U.S. State Energy Programs
funds administered by the U.S. Department of Energy provides flexible
resources directly to states to advance governors’ energy policy
priorities, including workforce development, just transition, energy
technology-based economic development, and other important
imperatives outlined in this report.

13

The data presented in this report offers a valuable opportunity for a
deeper understanding of the role of energy jobs in the U.S. economy
and the lives of workers. It is important to understand that wages, job
quality, and opportunity are based on a variety of factors, including
qualifications, experience, and training, as well as technology andindustry. A rudimentary comparison of median wages based solely ontechnology, such as wind, solar, energy efficiency, nuclear, electric
power, or natural gas, can be misleading. Such comparisons obscurefactors that affect median wages for energy occupations, such as
geography, union representation, education and other qualification
requirements, and industry and occupational focus, as well as theaccessibility of jobs based on geography, educational and training
requirements, and technology adoption and growth in a given
community or state. Such nuances underscore the need tocontextualize discussions of wages and benefits with local realities, suchas job growth and decline, investments in education and training, thenumber of and competitiveness for specific jobs, and long-term job
prospects.17 Energy jobs, their role in the U.S. economy, and theopportunities they present for Americans is complex. The Wage Report,
together with the annual USEER, seeks to increase understanding of thisimportant sector.

17 To illustrate, clean energy careers are lucrative and rewarding for many individuals and communities,

and typically do not entail the same investment of time and resources that other energy occupations,such as chemical engineers for oil and gas operations, may require. Energy efficiency jobs exist in nearly
every county in every state across the country and distributed renewable energy jobs are also very
ubiquitous. Wages offered in these jobs exceed national median wages, and based on pre-pandemic data,
work in these fields has the potential for significant and continued growth, while other energy sectors
have experienced job losses.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE: CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERSManaging Workforce Transitions and Economic Recovery|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

To support economic recovery and address energy transition impacts
on communities, policymakers at all levels should prioritize
workforce funding and programming to support the continued
development and expansion of pipelines to gainful energy careers,particularly for disadvantaged communities and workers. The economic
fallout resulting from COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted
workers in hospitality, tourism, and retail occupations. It has also
disproportionately impacted women and ethnic and racial minorities aswell as younger (Millennial and Gen Z) age groups—demographics
already underrepresented in the energy sector. Many of the hardest-hit
occupations in the COVID-19 pandemic may not offer directlytransferable skillsets to energy careers, but with the appropriate policy
and financial supports, an energy employment rebound could help
provide new and improved job prospects for an expanded and morediverse set of workers.18 Targeted support could come from state andlocal workforce programs as well as federal programs, such as
augmented Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding
formulas or Employment and Training Administration (ETA)administered grant funding, similar to Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF)
grants.

14

The Department of Energy should consider leading an effort to provide
more granular detail on the skill competencies of energy occupations tomirror the level of detail available from O*NET19 for standard
occupations across the U.S. economy. Such data would help federal andstate policymakers improve their understanding of incumbent worker
displacement due to energy market and policy changes, as well as
opportunities for transition. Workforce transitions and the COVID-19
pandemic are impacting existing energy sector workers, especially incommunities with labor markets centered around single industries suchas coal mining. Supporting the transition of incumbent energy sector
workers into new jobs will require a multi-pronged analysis, including
examinations of other energy resources available in the community, thetransferability of skillsets, the comparability of wages and benefits, andthe psychology of job transition and loss at the individual andcommunity levels.

Energy Career Skills, Experience, and Exposure
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship program
could be refined to include more pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeshipfunding, which would support longer development pipelines while
offering workers the opportunity to learn and earn. Registered

18 Increased funding and financial support are necessary in efforts to diversify the energy workforce;

however, they are insufficient without changes in workplace culture and hiring and investment practices.
A forthcoming report from NASEO in collaboration with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities(HBCU) Community Development Action Coalition (CDAC) will examine diversity in the U.S. energy
workforce, including perceptions, awareness, career access, advancement, and navigation, wages, andbenefits. Its findings highlight the importance of improving representation and inclusion across all
segments of the energy economy, from research and development to commercialization and deployment.
19 O*NET, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, is a comprehensive dataset of occupation-specificdata, including knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as common work tasks and activities. These data aresegmented by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and can be cross-analyzed to produce
skill transferability profiles for various occupations.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE: CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS
Apprenticeship is a proven vehicle for developing construction talent,
which is critical to the deployment of new and updated energy
infrastructure. Refinements to Registered Apprenticeship are especiallytimely given the potentially substantial increase in the demand forconstruction, manufacturing, and other deployment-focused activities
as the economy recovers and the energy sector continues todecarbonize.

Additional Research and Collaboration|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Policymakers at the federal, state, and local level can use the trends andfindings presented in this report as a springboard to examine theimpacts of and potential responses to energy and workforce transitions
at the local and state level. By leveraging USEER, BLS, and otherdatasets, granular analyses unlock opportunities for better-informed
policymaking, targeted training and workforce development
investments, strategic partnerships across the public and private
sectors, and a heightened understanding of the workforce implicationsof energy policies, regulations, and investments under consideration.
Workforce assessments and skill gap research have been conducted byseveral states, including Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Pennsylvania, and New York, among others. These studies focus
on the regional realities of each state—understanding energy sector
strengths and employer needs as well as local markets and policy
climates—and directly inform policy and program design.

15

The Department of Energy should consider engaging states to explore
pathways to increase certification and licensure reciprocity for skilledenergy labor. Energy-specific licensure requirements and job availability
vary across different states and regions. To address variations inlicensing requirements for common energy occupations, such as
electricians or HVAC workers, state and local agencies may consider
licensing reciprocity across states, particularly where workers meet
more stringent safety requirements or other standards of another state.
Streamlining licensing requirements across jurisdictional boundaries canease employment navigation for jobseekers as well as hiring and projectapplication for employers. State Energy Offices would play a pivotal
role in such conversations in order to expand access to new markets
and opportunities for their residents.
State Energy Offices can use energy employment, wages, and benefits
data in order to understand the geographic, industrial, and occupational
implications of various energy policy mechanisms and investment
strategies. While certain incentives and targets like those designed to
improve energy efficiency may have wide-ranging impacts, otherpolicies focused on specific energy sectors, such as offshore wind, may
have more localized effects, or may even require workforce
reinforcements from other states. Economic impact modeling andscenario planning can be used to better understand the potential for
future growth across specific energy sectors and regions in the nationand the types of energy-related training and workforce development
supports that may be needed in a region over the coming years.
Collaboration among State Energy Offices, the U.S. Department ofEnergy, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis could support new

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE: CONSIDERATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS
research that identifies how federal and state-level stimulus investments
will impact jobs across various sectors of the energy economy.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Unionization is typically indicative of job quality for energy workers yet
federal unionization data varies widely. To address this important issue,
the National Economic Council should consider convening relevant
stakeholders, such as the Department of Energy Office of Jobs, theBureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the Energy
Information Administration to establish protocols and methodologies
for gathering more granular, accurate, and reliable data on unionization
rates in the energy sector. Accurate unionization data would contribute
substantially to U.S. energy jobs data. Current datasets across the
Department of Energy, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau
produce varying union membership rates across industry segments,
creating difficulties around extrapolating energy-specific unionization
rates. There are several opportunities to explore cross-agency
collaboration on unionization rates. These could include funding moregranular data collection on unionization rates by industry and state
within the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as integrating existing datathat is already collected by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
on unions, such as mine safety data. In concert with these expandedfederal labor data collection efforts, the current U.S. Energy and
Employment Report data collection funding could be augmented toinclude more granular information on union representation by offering
more segmentation by job type, region, and industrial sector. This isespecially important for shifting business models that outsource direct
employment to other related industries.

16

Research and analysis in the USEERs, 5-Year USEER, and Wage
Report indicate that U.S. energy jobs can play a major role in economic
recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy transition, yet
additional study is needed in order realize these opportunities. Deeper
investigation is required for a comprehensive understanding of the
profiles of the jobs that will be created, lost, and changed, including theaccessibility of these energy jobs, wages and benefits, andopportunities for worker mobility and advancement. The study should
identify job growth, advancement, and accessibility (both geographicand qualifications) to enable the development of education and training
programs, job crosswalk opportunities, impacts on workers
and communities, as well as local, state, and federal policies. This
research and analysis of the pandemic’s impact and energy transition
can further ensure the contribution of energy jobs toward a just andequitable future for all U.S. workers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYSUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Chapter 1
Research Methodology Overview

Chapter 1 provides a description of each metric presented in the report,
highlighting the data source, why this measure was selected, and how it
supports the overall understanding of energy employment transitions.

Employment
The report includes brief overviews of historical energy employment
trends. These trends are discussed in conjunction with overall national
shifts in how energy is produced in the United States. The inclusion of
employment trend data highlights how the growth and distribution ofenergy jobs is correlated with the dominant modes of energy
production and the changing mix of new technologies and fuel sources.
Energy employment data for this report is taken from the U.S. Energy
and Employment Report (USEER) series20, which has been released
annually since 2015.x These reports track energy jobs at the county,
state, and national level across five major technology sectors and their

20 Details on the USEER data collection effort and methodology may be found here:|.

https://www.usenergyjobs.org/.

17

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
component sub-technologies as well as by industry sector. These data
have been key to understanding the job growth and decline of various
energy sectors in the United States.

Energy Jobs Defined
For the purposes of this report, an energy job is defined as employmentthat dedicates any proportion of labor hours to the research,development, production, manufacture, distribution, sales, installation,and repair of energy and energy-related goods and services.21
Employment data is described in terms of technology sectors andindustry segments. Energy jobs are delineated into five major
technology sectors, featured in Figure 1, and their component subtechnologies. Examples of sub-technologies for electric power
generation would include coal, nuclear, natural gas, solar, and wind;examples of energy efficiency sub-technologies include ENERGYSTAR® appliances; LED22, CFL23, and other efficient lighting; as well as
high efficiency HVAC technologies.24|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Within these major technology sectors, energy jobs are distributed
across economic activities or value chain segments; these arecommonly referred to as industries. In total, there are nine industry
segments, featured in Figure 2, that contain energy and energy-related
jobs in the U.S. labor market.

18

21 The USEER provides data for direct employment only and does not attempt to estimate indirect or

induced employment related to the analyzed sectors. Workers involved in the manufacture oftechnologies and equipment, such as solar panels, are included in employment estimates. However, thisdoes not include indirect jobs associated with the production and manufacture of component parts andraw materials, such as polysilicon production (the raw material used in solar panels).
22 A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it.
23 A compact fluorescent lamp is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent light bulb.
24 For a more detailed look at energy sub-technologies, please refer to the Energy Sectors chapter of thisreport.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Figure 1.
Five Major Technology Sectors in the Energy Industry|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Figure 2.
Nine Industry Segments Containing Energy and Energy-Related Jobs

19

Wages & Benefits
This report focuses on energy sector wages and benefits which arepresented to inform discussion and understanding on the impacts ofenergy labor market changes on the prevailing wages and employment
benefits available for jobseekers and new entrants into the energy labor
force. Data for this section is taken from a supplemental survey
associated with the USEER outreach effort that focuses specifically on
occupational wages, healthcare benefits, and retirement provisions for
77 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, ranging fromengineers, accountants, and gas plant operators to insulation workers,
HVAC mechanics, and electricians. It is important to note that all wages
reported are based on full-time employment, at 2,080 hours of work peryear and excludes any seasonal or part-time energy jobs that may only
be needed on a project-by-project basis.25

25 The exclusion of project-based, part-time, or seasonal energy workers may impact wages, though theresearch team is not currently able to determine what percentage of energy workers are excluded in thisanalysis. Future research and data collection efforts aim to gather more granular data on whatpercentage of the energy workforce are full-time, part-time, seasonal, and project-based workers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYIn addition to occupation-specific wages provided in the Energy
Technology Sectors chapter26 of this report, the document also includes
high-level aggregations of wage data by energy technology, subtechnology, and industry segment. These data are estimates based on a
combination of the proprietary survey data mentioned above and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May
2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage
Estimates dataset.xi
Throughout the report, energy wages are compared to the national
median wage of $19.14 in order to identify wage premiums anddiscounts. For the purposes of this report, a “premium” is defined as thepercentage above the comparative wage, while a “discount” would
indicate that wages are below the comparative wage; this would be
portrayed as a negative percentage.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe report compares energy wages to the national median wage inorder to produce a standardized comparative metric across the entire
document. It is important to recognize, however, that using the national
median wage eliminates some nuance inherent in wage data. Jobs thatpay significantly higher than the national median wage are likely torequire more experience, education, training, and certifications. Wagecomparisons to the overall national median wages do not consider
these variables that play a role in determining wages for various energy
sectors and occupations.
Where appropriate, energy wages are also compared to overall
industry-specific median hourly wages. For example, hourly wages forenergy workers in the construction industry are compared to theconstruction industry’s overall median wage, which includes both
energy and non-energy workers. In addition to comparing to the overallnational median wage of $19.14, industry comparisons highlight ifenergy-specific mining, manufacturing, construction, repair andmaintenance, wholesale trade, or professional service jobs earn morethan the average worker in each of those industries (see Table 5).
In the Energy Technology Sectors chapter, sub-technology wages arecompared to a geographically weighted median. Since some subsectors are more highly concentrated in specific states, such as solar
jobs in California, the national median wage is weighted by the statespecific sub-technology job concentration to account for the uneven
employment distribution across the nation.

Wages vs. Earnings
All data used in this report is based on hourly wages and not hourly
earnings. Wages represent straight-time, gross pay before taxes andpayroll deductions. Earnings are a measure of gross payrolls divided bytotal hours paid during the pay period; earnings are the average returnin a given industry. The averages of hourly earnings differ from both
median and average wage rates.

26 Please see the following sections in the Energy Technology Sectors chapter: Electric Power Generation;|.

Fuels; Transmission, Distribution, and Storage; Energy Efficiency; and Motor Vehicles.

20

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For these reasons, caution is advised when comparing hourly earnings
from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data sources such as the Current
Employment Statistics (CES) to hourly wages from the BLS
Occupational Employment Survey (OES). The occupational wage data
presented in the Energy Technology Sectors chapter are occupationspecific median hourly wages and not industry-specific average hourly
earnings. As an example, the hourly earnings for the constructionindustry in CES are slightly higher compared to hourly wages forconstruction and extraction occupations in the OES dataset.

Geography|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Within each Energy Sector chapter, there is a brief discussion on how
shifts in dominant fuel sources and energy technologies are creating
new geographic pockets of energy jobs across the nation. These shifts
are resulting in job losses in parts of the country that have historically
been considered key regions for traditional energy jobs. While
installation, maintenance, and repair jobs in the energy efficiency sector
are more universally distributed and exist in nearly every county acrossthe nation, in large part, the prevalence of energy jobs is dependent on
the concentration of either renewable or fossil fuel resources andinfrastructures; this is especially true for the electric power generationand fuels technology sectors. Coal, oil, natural gas, solar, wind, andbiofuel resources are specific to geographic regions in the UnitedStates, and this resource distribution determines the regional spread ofenergy jobs in these sectors.xii

21This geographic context is important to understanding energy
employment transitions, particularly when high job loss areas are notcongruent with job gains experienced elsewhere in the nation. It is clearthat these gains and losses are not evenly spread across the country;
states like Kentucky and Ohio are seeing employment declines in theircoal generation and fuels sectors while other states like California andTexas have experienced the positive labor market impacts of booms innatural gas electric power generation, petroleum fuels, energy
efficiency, and motor vehicles. At the same time, as the U.S.
transportation fleet continues to be electrified, it is possible that theethanol workforce in the Midwest and central states will suffer too.
Understanding these regional realities will be key to any state-levelstrategic planning, economic revitalization, and workforce development
initiatives.
The state-level energy employment data for this report is also takenfrom the USEER series.

Demographics
As with geographic concentration, the Energy Sector chapters also
include a brief section on energy workforce demographics. Race andethnicity for the demographic sections mirror the same terminology
used in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey. These
data are also culled from the 2020 USEER and are used to serve as ashort introduction to the potential social justice challenges andopportunities raised by the U.S. energy transition. It is possible that the

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
shifting mix of energy jobs will result in social equity implications,depending on where job loss and growth is concentrated.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Though a smaller component of this publication, future research efforts
may focus more specifically on the extent to which impacts of these
employment transitions are born by specific demographic populations.
Additional research may also be used to ensure that new energy jobs
have equitable access for racial and ethnic minorities and provide
sustainable wage opportunities and high job quality for traditionally
underserved populations.

22

ENERGY TRENDS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Chapter 2
Energy Trends in the 21st Century

23

Energy Production & Employment Trends
In the first two decades of the 21st century, domestic coal production
declined by more than 37 percent while natural gas and renewableenergy production respectively increased by 87 and 89 percent. Overthe same time period, petroleum production grew by 106 percent(Figure 3).xiii These shifts in energy production over the last 20 years
are due to a variety of factors, including new technologies and thelower price of natural gas and renewables compared to coal as well asstate and federal policies designed to decarbonize the U.S. energy
system. Figure 3 shows these significant changes in energy production
over the last two decades and especially in the last three to four years.

ENERGY TRENDS
Figure 3.
Primary Energy Production by Source, 2000-2019
Quadrillion British Thermal Units
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2000

2019

2010
Coal

Petroleum

Natural Gas

NuclearHydroelectric

Solar

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Other Renewables

Energy employment trends reflect these changes in energy production.
Coinciding with the growing production of petroleum and natural gas
fuels, these sectors of the energy labor market have grown by a
combined 8.9 percent, creating 73,000 new jobs between 2015 and2019. At the same time, the coal fuels sector shed 17,000 jobs—a declineof 18 percent. Solar electric power generation employment has grownby 45,200 jobs since 2015, for a growth rate of 15 percent over four
years, while wind jobs have increased by 37,700 workers—a 49 percent
increase.xiv
The impacts of these energy shifts on the U.S. energy labor market areclear. Changing resource use and technology developments are
resulting in marked growth and decline across multiple sectors, andwithin these sectors, these changes will further be reflected as shifts inindustry focus and occupational demand. For example, the buildout of
new energy systems and infrastructures increases the need forconstruction workers while improved efficiency and lower staffing
requirements may stagnate growth in the utilities sector,27 unless this|.

27 These changes are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5: Energy Technology Sectors.

24

ENERGY TRENDS
growth is offset by increased electrification. It is these changes that are
impacting energy sector wages and employment benefits, as averagehourly wages vary most significantly by industry segments, like mining,
construction, professional services, and utilities.28
Trends over the last three years indicate that energy jobs in wholesaletrade have declined the most, shedding 14 percent of the workforce
from 2016 through 2019. At the same time, professional services haveseen the greatest growth in employment (22 percent increase),followed by other services like repair and maintenance (15 percent
increase), mining and extraction (14 percent increase), and agriculture(12 percent increase). Energy-related construction and manufacturing
have grown between 2016 and 2019, at a rate of five percent each, while
employment in the utilities sector has declined by less than a percent.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Shifts in dominant fuel sources and energy technologies are also
creating new geographic centers of energy jobs across the nation.
These shifts are resulting in job losses in parts of the country that havehistorically been considered key regions for traditional energy jobs.
While installation, maintenance, and repair jobs in the energy efficiency
sector are more universally distributed and exist in nearly every county
across the nation, in large part, the prevalence of energy jobs isdependent on the concentration of either renewable or fossil fuelresources and infrastructures; this is especially true for the electric
power generation and fuels technology sectors. Coal, oil, natural gas,solar, wind, and biofuel resources are specific to geographic regions in
the United States, and this resource distribution determines the regional
spread of energy jobs in these sectors.xv
Over half of the states in the nation have climate change and clean
energy policies in place. By providing incentives, establishing mandates,and setting goals and standards, state energy and climate policies are amajor driver for technology deployment and diffusion. As such, they
have direct impacts on the local workforce and market demand forcertain skillsets, areas of knowledge, and experiences and backgrounds.
Investments in certain energy technology and industry segments cancreate both positive and negative ripple effects. Discussions about
energy jobs transitions are often associated with coal-dependentcommunities, but as the U.S. energy economy continues to evolve, itappears equally applicable to local economies dependent on a wide
variety of fuels, technologies, and systems. State policies to reducegreenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, for instance, byinvesting in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, may create greater
demand for alternative fuel vehicle workers in California but negatively
impact automotive manufacturing in Michigan or corn-ethanol plants
throughout the Midwest. A deeper understanding of these potential
impacts can help target workforce training, retraining andunemployment support to those who are deeply impacted by the
adoption of new energy technologies, systemic changes, and policies.

28 Please see Chapter 3: Energy Job Wages Explained for more information on what factors influence|.

energy sector wages.

25

ENERGY TRENDS

Energy Jobs and Transition:
Challenges and Opportunities
The energy sector has changed significantly not just over the past two
decades, but also over the last hundred years. These changes, largely
due to technology and economic trends, have profound impacts onenergy jobs and the communities that depend upon them. These
impacts compound as a result of indirect jobs (both energy and nonenergy) and tax revenues associated with energy.29 This section of theWage Report looks at five examples to help inform policies that canaddress how these shifts impact energy jobs and communities. Unlike
the rest of the Wage Report, this section explores challenges andopportunities associated with changes in energy jobs due to energy
transitions and trends that cannot be provided solely by energy jobs
data.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Figure 4.
Changes in U.S. Energy Consumption, 1908-2015xvi

26

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=28592
U.S. Energy Production, consumption has changed significantly since 1908, November 1, 2016

29 With respect to community impacts, jobs and tax revenue impacts are part of a broader phenomenon

when a major industry locates in a community or closes its facilities in the community. For example, in thecase of power plant closures, the plant is the top taxpayer, providing about 80 percent of property taxes.
Impacts from the closure include the loss of these property taxes plus the loss of income and sales taxes
from lost jobs. School districts in particular are also impacted. A 2019 study published by Brookings also
showed that coal-related revenue in three specific counties may fund a third or more of local government
budgets. See generally: https://www.pjstar.com/news/20190826/power-plant-closures-could-hit-localtax-revenue-hard and https://www.the74million.org/article/it-just-becomes-like-a-ghost-town-asnuclear-plants-close-in-record-numbers-across-u-s-small-town-school-districts-brace-for-catastrophictax-loss/ and https://www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2019/05/Morris_Kaufman_Doshi_RiskofFiscalCollapseinCoalReliantCommunitiesCGEP_Report_FINAL.pdf.

ENERGY TRENDS

Coal Mine and Power Plant Closures
Dille and Widen, West Virginia
and Gillette, Wyoming|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe share of coal has been declining since 1908, and mine andpowerplant closures have lasting impacts on communities. This
spotlight on Dille and Widen, West Virginia, mining towns until 1963,
and Gillette, Wyoming, a state that has recently experienced a 40
percent reduction in coal production, underscores the importance andneed for policies to address these community impacts.

27

Dille and Widen, West Virginia areformer mining towns with apopulation of approximately 3,000
until December 1963 when the Rich
Run Mine was shut down. Today, thepopulation of Widen and Dille iscloser to 300 people. The nearest
jobs are a gas station and fast-foodrestaurant in Birch River, a 15-minutedrive away. A food pantry run by
the Dille Church of the Nazarene
serves fifty percent of families living in Dille, Widen, Birch River, andHarrison.xvii “I’ve seen more people in need,” Mitzi Frame, a volunteer at
the pantry, said. She continued, “it stems from when the mines shut
down in Widen years and years ago. It just didn’t get any better.”
Patricia Fischer, Pastor of the Dille Church of the Nazarene stated, “I’veeven prayed about an industry for this community. Poverty leads to a
lot of different issues other than hunger.”xviii
Gillette, Wyoming is the center of the Powder River Basin whichcurrently produces about 40 percent of U.S. coal.xix In 2016, theeconomy crashed primarily due to low natural gas and renewableenergy prices which resulted in less demand for coal, a common trend
in this decade. “That was when the economy just collapsed. The energy“I’ve seen more people in need. It stems fromwhen the mines shut down in Widen years
and years ago. It just didn’t get any better.”—Mitzi Frame, on Dille and Widen

ENERGY TRENDS
industries always have been boomand-bust, but this was a big one,"said Gillette Mayor Louise CarterKing. Wyoming coal production
peaked in 2008 at 468 million short
tons; by 2019, that number was
277.xx According to a local resident,
Steve Gray, who was laid off threetimes since 2015, the impact has
been devastating. “My bankaccounts were drained—lost myhouse, all the repossessions. It was tough."xxi|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Jake Higdon, a senior climate policy analyst at the Environmental
Defense Fund, has focused on ensuring fairness for workers andcommunities negatively impacted by the fossil fuel shift. Referring to a
successful transition from an industry town, he notes, “there is noperfect example so far, because we haven’t put forward the policies andinvestment needed to meet the scale of the energy transition challenge.
Workers and communities reliant on fossil fuels will need a range oftools and policies that support economic development, workforce
training, public benefits, environmental remediation and more. We’ve
seen how these policies, when planned hand-in-hand with local
communities, can help lay the foundation for future prosperity. For
example, Athens County, Ohio has leveraged federal grants to build
collaboration among businesses, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders
around local economic development, and the promising new Colorado
Office of Just Transition is working with labor and utility stakeholders toprovide advance notice and training for workers in power plants thatwill be closed.”

28

There does appear to be increased interest in addressing the impacts ofreduced coal use on energy jobs and communities. Provisions such as
those found in the American Coal Miners Act30, the Marshall Plan for
Coal Country Act31, and Assistance to Coal Communities Program32
from the last Congress could provide aid to coal workers and theirfamilies during transitionary periods. More recently, President Bidenissued an Executive Order establishing a Working Group on Coal andPower Plant Communities, recognizing the negative impacts of thecurrent energy transition and the importance of providing resources toenergy jobs and impacted communities.xxii

30 S.27 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)
31 S.4306 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)
32 https://www.eda.gov/coal/ENERGY TRENDS

Nuclear Power Plant Retirements
Zion, Illinois andOttawa County, Ohio|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Between 2013 and 2020, ten nuclear plants have retired, and six are
scheduled to retire by 2025, largely due to low-cost natural gas fromfracking.xxiii Nuclear plant operations on average deliver around $400
million annually to the economic livelihood of local communities.xxiv
When the plant closes, impacts are not limited to energy job losses; tax
revenue from property taxes, sales taxes, and income taxes decline
significantly. A major impact is on education funding by up to 80
percent, reducing gateways to a longer-term recovery. Furthermore,
after the plant closes, in addition to the lost direct jobs, indirect jobs
and tax revenues, the community now is host to a nuclear waste site.

29

Zion, Illinois, a suburban community
about 50 miles north of Chicago,
was the site of the Zion Nuclear
Power station which employed 1,200
individuals until the plant closed in
1998.xxv When the Zion Nuclear
Power Station closed, the town lost
$19 million in annual property tax
revenues, approximately 50 percentof the Zion’s tax base. To help
address the deficit, the town
doubled property taxes, resulting in
Photo: M. Readey
an exodus of both businesses andresidents, making it difficult to attract
homebuyers and continuing the negative tax cycle.
“We’ve got a $1.6 million deficit that we’re looking at next year. And
over the past four or five years, we’ve had deficits and we’ve had to cut,
cut, cut,” said City Administrator David Knabel.xxvi Zion “had toeliminate 14 police officers, eight public works employees, and five jobs
in the building department,” according to then Mayor Al Hill in 2018.xxvii
This has led to diminished response times for emergencies andunderserved populations. The plant site now hosts tons of highly
radioactive nuclear waste. “Even after decommissioning is finished—perhaps in about 2020—no one will want to invest in building a resort orcondos there with the waste still on site,” said Hill.xxviii

ENERGY TRENDS
Ottawa County, Ohio is the site of
the Davis Besse Nuclear Plant which
was scheduled to close in 2020.
State legislation has temporarily
delayed the closure and the futureof the plant remains uncertain. Ohioschool Superintendent Guy
Parmigian of Benton Salem District
explains just how reliant the Districton the Davis Besse plant for tax
revenue. Since 2018, 25 percent of
the district’s budget has been cut,and the school system has eliminated several positions, and that is while
the plant is still operating. “It’s kind of now like, I don’t want to say the
party’s over, but the party’s not what it used to be, and that plant isn’t
generating that same revenue that it used to for us,” Parmigian said.
The city proposed for a third time a twice rejected a proposal meant tobring in $1.5 million in tax revenue. “The worst-case scenario, shuttering
the plant, would be disastrous for the district,” Parmigian said.xxix|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

A report by the Nuclear Decommissioning Collaborative outlines thereal fears of nuclear plant site communities.xxx A loss of tax revenue
from the plant leads to a spiral where local community taxes are
increased making it even more difficult for residents to pay when they
are also losing their jobs with no new energy jobs on the horizon.xxxi
People do not want to move into the community because of high tax
rates and the lack of industry. The once economically healthy
community continues in this downward spiral.

30

Federal initiatives to help these communities include the proposed“Sensible, Timely Relief for America’s Nuclear Districts’ Economic
Development Act of 2020,” and the U.S. Economic Development
Administration’s Research and National Technical Assistance program
which has funded initiatives such as the Nuclear Closure Communities
Technical Assistance program.xxxii“I don’t want to say the party’s over,
but the party’s not what it used to be, andthat plant isn’t generating that same revenue
that it used to for us. The worst-case scenario,
shuttering the plant, would be disastrous forthe district.”—Guy Parmigian, on Ottawa County

ENERGY TRENDS

Creating Jobs & Improving
Local Economies throughReclamation Programs
Abandoned Mines & Gas Wells in Pennsylvania|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTAs illustrated by Dille and Widen, West Virginia and Gillette, Wyoming,abandoned mines and gas wells often are associated with lost energy
jobs and the resulting impact on nearby communities. But reclamation
programs are one example that can offer opportunities for new jobs
associated with state programs as well as other benefits such asincreased property values and, potentially, tourism.

31

In Pennsylvania, the Department ofEnvironmental Protection (DEP) andthe Bureau of Abandoned Mine
Reclamation administer the federal
Abandoned Mine Lands (AML)
program to address problems
resulting from coal mining prior to
1977. Pennsylvania continues toaccount for one-third of the
Photo: Nicholas A. Tonellicountry’s AML problem with 43 of
the state's 67 counties having
identified abandoned mine problem areas. Pennsylvania has nearly
300,000 acres of abandoned mine land in need of reclamation, with anestimated cleanup cost of $5 billion.xxxiii“Mine reclamation equals jobs. From excavation, to truck hauling, heavyequipment operation, engineering, to natural stream channel design, totree planting,” says R. John Dawes, Executive Director of theFoundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. He adds: “Ancillary jobs insupport of these direct jobs include food service, hotel/motel use, andall the indirect services needed to keep this important communitybased effort going. These jobs impact the local economy as the money
stays locally.” A study on the abandoned mine discharges in the West

“Mine reclamation equals jobs. From
excavation, to truck hauling, heavy equipment
operation, engineering, to natural stream
channel design, to tree planting.”—R. John Dawes

ENERGY TRENDS
Branch Susquehanna River Watershed found that every $1 spent by thestate on AML remediation spurs roughly $1.50 in local economic
activity.xxxiv
The project construction contractors—often former mine operatorsthemselves—typically employ former miners and other local workers incoalfield communities because they possess the necessary skills for thetask.xxxv “When these mines closed, these communities lost jobs andwere left with land that was difficult to repurpose,” Governor Tom Wolf
said in a 2016 press release.xxxvi “This [AML] program will help strengthencoal communities and put people back to work, while also improving
the environment in these areas.”
Pennsylvania also now sees a similar job transition opportunity with theabandonment of gas and oil wells. The state, having engaged incommercial oil drilling since 1859, reports the largest estimate of
undocumented orphaned wells—100,000 to 560,000—in the country.
The DEP’s Well Plugging Program was established in 1984 to plug oil
and gas wells with no identifiable responsible party. Many abandoned
wells emit methane, a greenhouse gas 34 times more potent thancarbon dioxide over a 100-year time frame. In Pennsylvania, closing thewells would prevent freshwater contamination and result in annual
emissions savings.xxxvii|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT“Abandoned wells must be cleaned out before they can be plugged,”
notes Arthur Stewart, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil
coalition. “The clean out requires special equipment and knowledge,
and the people with that equipment and knowledge are theconventional oil and gas workforce.”

32

On average, in the United States, plugging ten wells requires about 2.4
person-years of work; plugging Pennsylvania’s remaining abandoned
and orphaned wells would create roughly 816,000 job-years for oil andgas workers in Pennsylvania.xxxviii Stewart explains, “these familysustaining jobs, paying average per capita income or more, include rig
and heavy equipment operators, CDL drivers, and mechanics.”
Ultimately, “a program to plug abandoned wells is a win for theenvironment and a win for the economy,” says Stewart. Particularly
given the economic and labor market context following the global
COVID-19 pandemic, “a program to plug abandoned wells would bringmuch needed help to rural economies hit hard by COVID-19’s impact on
small businesses,” Stewart explains.

ENERGY TRENDS

Working with Unions& Workforce Development
Offshore Wind in Massachusetts|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe emerging U.S. offshore wind industry presents a key growth
opportunity along the Atlantic coast. Massachusetts, for example, hasalready procured 1,600 megawatts (MW) of wind farm development,
which is expected to employ 6,800 to 9,800 local full-time equivalentjobs over the projects’ lifespansxxxix—with another 1,600 MW in the
future pipeline. The growth in offshore wind is due in large part to thestate’s policy and legislative leaders as well as efforts by the
Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to study windopportunities and engage electric distribution companies in solicitingand entering into long-term offshore wind contracts. To ensure that thejobs pay prevailing wages and meet safety and quality standards, aswell as an adequate supply of local, well-trained labor, Massachusetts isworking with industry and labor to create Project Labor Agreements forthe offshore wind sector.

33“From energy efficiency, distributed
energy, and advanced heating andcooling technology, Massachusetts’experience shows that investing inclean energy provides significant
dividends for our economy andworkforce development,” notes
Commissioner Patrick Woodcock of
the Massachusetts Department ofEnergy Resources. “Building on thiseconomic success, DOER has
identified offshore wind as a
Vineyard Wind project renderingsignificant opportunity to revitalize
our ports, create jobs, and bring costeffective clean energy near significant electrical demand.”Vineyard Wind, the developer of the first 800 MW build-out, has
included or is in negotiations to include Project Labor Agreements(PLAs) in their contracts that ensure in-state union labor is used where
possible.
“We are in the process of identifying which unions will be best suitedfor each task and supporting the development of necessary training
programs,” says Vineyard Wind’s Manager of Workforce and Supply
Chain Development Jennifer Cullen. “By engaging unions in this process,our firm can rely on existing networks to recruit, train, and supply thesufficient qualified workforce for the job.”ENERGY TRENDS
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) has recognized thebenefits of preparing a local workforce to develop offshore wind farms
in-state and beyond, investing $2 million—alongside Vineyard Wind andMayflower Wind, the Commonwealth’s second project—to support
offshore wind technical training and career development programs for
Massachusetts residents. The funding includes specific contributions to
the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union#223 and the Piledrivers and Divers Local Union #56. Local 56—thepredominant provider of marine construction labor in the Northeast—
has used the funds to sponsor member participation in the Global Wind
Organization’s Basic Safety Training program, a necessity for offshore
wind labor. IBEW Local 223 is partnering with offshore wind cablesupplier, JDR Cables, to establish an electrician training program foroffshore work at their training facility in Taunton, Massachusetts.
“MassCEC is pleased to be working with our local unions to ensure they
are fully prepared to supply highly-skilled construction and installation
talent for the emerging offshore wind industry,” explains MassCEC CEO
Stephen Pike.
A unique benefit to union labor is their access to a larger pool of
qualified talent. Local 56 is affiliated with the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters (UBC), one of the largest union networks in North America.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT“Local 56 has particular relationships with sister organizations in New
York, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh,” says Local 56 Business Manager
Dave Borrus. “We contact them to fill employment gaps whennecessary to ensure all projects have a sufficient workforce in a timely
manner.”

34

IBEW Local Union #223 Business Manager Doug Nelson adds, “Ourcollaboration with JDR and MassCEC will ensure offshore winddevelopers have a local workforce that is qualified, prepared, and has
the ability to work safely under these new working conditions… The
quality of workmanship is there, the safety of workers is there, and theopportunity to earn a living wage is there.”“By engaging unions in this process, our firm
can rely on existing networks to recruit,
train, and supply the sufficient qualified
workforce for the job.”—Jennifer Cullen

ENERGY TRENDS

Preparing for the Future
by Adopting and Adapting
New Energy Technologies
Texas’s Oncor Electric Utility’s Advanced Microgrid|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTNew energy technologies have been a major driver for changes inenergy jobs. Successful adoption of commercialized technologies often
depends on innovative energy companies and strategic partnerships.
Utilities in particular are impacted not just by new technologies for theirsector but also from other sectors. For example, projected increases of
the number of electric vehicles are expected to convert historic flat
demand to increase in electricity consumption by 20 percent and 38
percent by 2050.

35

Photo: Jphill19

Oncor is an electricity transmission anddistribution company whose service area
encompasses more than 400 communities
in Texas, including Dallas, Fort Worth,Round Rock, Midland, and Odessa. The
utility employs about 4,000 people andserves more than 10 million Texans. The
company delivers electricity and does notown, operate, or control power generation
plants, facilities, or assets. Oncor is actively
preparing for the future of energy
production and transmission. In partnershipwith S&C Electric and Schneider Electric,
Oncor built one of the most advanced
microgrids in North America in Lancaster,
Texas in 2015 to better understand thechallenges and opportunities thatmicrogrids and distributed energy present.

“New energy sources are showing us that
there are cleaner and better ways of doing
things, but this process is also more
complicated, requiring workers with skillsets
and abilities who are able to handle thesecomplex challenges.”— David Treichler

ENERGY TRENDS
The microgrid actually consists of four interconnected microgrids
making use of nine different distributed generation sources. Today, themicrogrid allows the utility to better manage and optimize thetransmission and distribution of electricity in the 21st century.
David Treichler, the Director of the Strategy and Emerging Issues teamat Oncor, highlighted how the future of energy is changing theworkforce at the utility. “New energy sources are showing us that there
are cleaner and better ways of doing things, but this process is also
more complicated, requiring workers with skillsets and abilities who areable to handle these complex challenges” he said.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Specifically, the utility is increasingly looking for workers with broad
engineering capabilities, who can understand complex systems andintegrate software and hardware systems. Analytical and digital skillsets
are also growing in importance. This increased need for highly technicalworkers will bring higher and higher wages, as firms compete for top
talent. Just like the big technology firms, “we’re looking for the best andbrightest as well” Mr. Treichler says.

36

ENERGY TRENDS

The Impacts of COVID-19
on U.S. Energy Jobs in 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled historic job losses in the UnitedStates. Impacts on the overall U.S. workforce from March through May
totaled almost 31.4 million job losses. The insured unemployment raterose more than 11 percentage points from March through May, reaching
15.6 percent—the highest recorded rate since the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) began tracking this data in 1948. Initial unemployment
claims for April totaled 23.1 million.33 While workers in industries likefood service and hospitality were hit first and hardest, negative impacts
are now being felt throughout the economy.xl|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTEnergy workers—those working in electric power generation; fuels;transmission, distribution, and storage; energy efficiency; and motor
vehicles—were also significantly impacted, as the energy industry
overall shed an estimated 1.03 million jobs at the peak of the pandemic
in April and an additional 46,000 jobs in May (Figure 5). This total
surpasses nearly all industry-wide growth measured since the first
USEER five years ago.

37

As of December 2020, the energy industry remains 12 percent below
pre-COVID-19 employment levels, or roughly 752,300 workers shy ofpeak employment at the end of 2019. Job losses were experienced
largely from March through May, totaling nearly 1.1 million displacedenergy workers over these three months, or about 3.5 percent of thetotal 31.4 million jobs lost across the nation during this time. At the peakof job losses in April, the nation saw a roughly 20 percent decline in
employment compared to a 12 percent decline in the energy sector. As
shown in Figure 5, the energy sector has seen monthly job gains sinceJune, though these gains have been modest.xli Despite significant
energy job losses, employment declines in the energy sector were lower
compared to other industry clusters such as Tourism, Hospitality, andRecreation; Information and Communications; Other Services (including
repair and maintenance); Defense, Aerospace, and Transportation
Manufacturing; Retail; Professional and Business Services; and Building
and Design.
The 2021 USEER will provide more details on the impacts of COVID-19
on U.S. energy jobs.

33 It is also important to note that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are not felt evenly across all

communities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation Summary indicates that Blackor African American and Hispanic or Latinx workers continue to suffer from disproportionately high levelsof unemployment.

ENERGY TRENDS
Figure 5.
U.S. Energy Jobs Change, March 2020 – December 2020

172,716

38,16018,639 24,320
14,892 30,193 24,958-46,087-265,581

|.

38

20
20
A
ug
us
t
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20
pt
20
em
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20
20
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ct
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er
20
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ov
20
em
be
r2
D
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ec
20
em
be
r2
0
20

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ly

20
20

Ju
ne

M

ay

20
20

20
20

A
pr
il

20
20
ar
ch
M

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT-764,503

Energy sectors that were especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
include energy efficiency and fuels. As of December 2020, the energy
efficiency sector lost a cumulative roughly 240,000 jobs compared tothe end of 2019, a decline of 10 percent. Over the same time, the fuels
sector saw jobs decline by about 11 percent—a loss of more than
125,000 jobs. The motor vehicles sector shed just over 238,000 workers
for a decline of more than nine percent, while the electric power
generation sector declined by just over seven percent, or almost
64,000 job. Transmission, distribution, and storage jobs declined by six
percent—over 85,000 jobs.
Table 1 illustrates the geographic impact of energy job losses fromMarch through December. Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Hawaii, andAlaska had the greatest relative job losses, all declining by 15 to 21
percent. In terms of absolute job losses, California, Texas, Michigan,
Georgia, and Pennsylvania shed roughly 35,000 to almost 90,000 jobs.

ENERGY TRENDS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 1.
Cumulative Energy Job Losses by State, March – December 2020

39

State

Jobs
Lost

Percent
Decline

State

Jobs
Lost

Percent
Decline

Alabama

15,495

10.4%

Montana

2,833

9.3%

Alaska

4,308

15.0%

Nebraska

4,363

7.6%

Arizona

8,335

6.7%

4,742

7.8%

Arkansas

4,096

6.4%

1,644

5.3%

California

89,507

9.4%

NevadaNew
Hampshire
New Jersey

14,725

10.1%

Colorado

8,692

5.4%

New Mexico

7,861

13.5%

Connecticut

5,775

7.6%

16,751

4.9%

Delaware

1,864

8.1%

22,673

10.4%

5,730

11.5%

29,243

8.3%

District ofColumbia
Florida

2,086

10.1%

31,643

9.3%

New York
North
CarolinaNorth
DakotaOhio

Georgia

42,226

20.5%

Oklahoma

17,765

12.8%

Hawaii

3,907

15.2%

Oregon

6,978

7.2%

Idaho

2,141

6.5%

Pennsylvania

34,865

12.9%

Illinois

13,814

4.5%

3,116

13.1%

Indiana

23,473

8.2%

12,971

9.2%

Iowa

6,316

7.3%

745

2.8%

Kansas

5,817

6.8%

Rhode Island
South
CarolinaSouth
DakotaTennessee

11,561

5.4%

Kentucky

29,419

19.3%

Texas

63,398

6.6%

Louisiana

27,030

15.9%

Utah

3,475

4.0%

Maine

2,057

8.1%

Vermont

1,814

8.0%

Maryland

9,348

7.1%

Virginia

13,1077.0%

Massachusetts

14,7087.8%

21,366

13.8%

Michigan

48,106

11.5%

6,197

9.4%

Minnesota

11,738

9.1%

Washington
West
Virginia
Wisconsin

10,469

6.8%

Mississippi

6,411

9.2%

Wyoming

3,237

7.3%

Missouri

12,353

7.6%

US TOTAL

752,292

9.0%

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Chapter 3
Energy Job Wages Explained

40

What makes this report different?
This report supplements the USEER series, providing a baseline forunderstanding energy sector wages. Though it includes brief
discussions of additional metrics, this report is uniquely focused on
wages.
Wage data is nuanced; it can be sliced in a variety of ways andexamined through multiple lenses. As discussed above in the
Employment section of the Research Methodology Overview, energy
jobs can be grouped into technology sectors and sub-sectors as well as
industry segments, or any combination of these. Median hourly wages
can be described using any one of these groupings.
The highest level of employment and wage aggregation is an industry
crosscut, which combines jobs across the technology sectors
highlighted in Table 2 based on fuel type. The USEER provides data on
industry crosscuts for nuclear, coal, oil, and natural gas because jobs inthese industries span electric power generation, fuels, and transmission
and distribution. In order to get an accurate understanding of average

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
wages in the overall coal industry, for example, all related jobs must be
factored in; this includes power plant operators or electricians at coalfired power plants, coal miners and extraction workers, truck drivers
transporting coal, and construction workers engaged in the building or
decommissioning of coal-fired power plants. Table 2 provides anexample of the coal industry crosscut, what technology sectors areencompassed in the coal industry, as well as the related industries
within each technology sector. For wages for the coal industry crosscut,
please refer to Table 7.
Table 2.
Industry Crosscut Example
Industry
CrosscutTechnology
Sectors

Related Industries

Electric Power
Generation

Utility generation from coal-fired power
plants; construction or decommissioning of
coal-fired electric power plants;
manufacture of technologies or component
parts related to coal electric power
generation; wholesale trade and distributionof coal electric power generation
technologies; professional service support(legal, financing, consulting, etc.)

Fuels

Mining, extraction, and production of coalfuels; manufacture and wholesale trade oftechnologies and component parts related
to coal fuel production; professional service
supportCoal
Industry|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTTransmission &Distribution

41

Distribution and transport of coal fuelproducts

The next levels of aggregation are the five technology sectors
mentioned in Figure 1 (Five Major Technology Sectors in the Energy
Industry). These employment and wage estimates encompass all the
sub-technologies specific to each sector and regardless of fuel source.
The employment total for the electric power generation sector, forexample, includes all workers that in some way support electricity
generation across all fuel types—coal, oil, nuclear, natural gas,
renewables. This includes the construction of new electricity generation
facilities, installation of solar photovoltaic or wind turbine projects,
utility employees, the manufacture or wholesale trade of components
for electric power generating technologies, and professional service
support (Table 3). Electric power generation employment and wage
estimates would exclude any fossil fuel mining and extraction workers
as these individuals would be in the fuels sector.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSSUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 3.
Five Energy Technology Sectors & Component Sub-Technologies
Technology Sector

Related Sub-Technologies

Industries

Electric Power
Generation

Solar, wind, nuclear, coal,hydroelectric, geothermal,
and biomass electric
power generation

Construction, Utilities,
Professional and Business
Services, Manufacturing,
Wholesale Trade, and Other
Services34

Fuels

Coal, petroleum, naturalgas, nuclear, corn ethanol,
and woody biomass fuels

Mining and Extraction,
Manufacturing, Professional andBusiness Services, Wholesale
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry,
Construction, and Other
Services

Transmission,
Distribution, andStorage

Traditional transmission
and distribution, battery
storage, smart grid,microgrid

Construction, Utilities,
Wholesale Trade, Professionaland Business Services,
Manufacturing, and Other
Services

Energy Efficiency

Efficient lighting,traditional HVAC,
ENERGY STARappliances, renewable
heating and cooling,
advanced and recycledbuilding materials

Construction, Professional andBusiness Services,
Manufacturing, Wholesale
Trade, Other Services

Motor Vehicles

Gasoline and dieseltransportation, electricvehicles, plug-in hybrid
vehicles, hydrogen, andfuel cell vehicles

Manufacturing, Repair andMaintenance, Wholesale Trade,
Professional and Business
Services

From here, the data can be further disaggregated into each of the subtechnologies described in column two of Table 3 above. This level of
granularity provides hourly wages for workers in specific subcomponents of the technology sectors, such as solar electric power
generation, natural gas electric power generation, coal fuels, petroleum
fuels, nuclear fuels, efficient lighting, ENERGY STAR appliances, plug-in
hybrid vehicles, battery storage, or smart grid.
This report is organized following these levels of aggregation, beginningwith the highest level of aggregation—industry crosscuts—and moving
down through major technology, sub-technology, industry segment,
and occupational wage data.

34 Other Services largely consists of NAICS 81, which includes repair and maintenance and non-profit|.

organizations.

42

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

What do energy jobs pay?
The energy sector pays well above the median hourly wage in America.
This is true across all technology sectors and nearly all industry
segments. Overall, the energy sector’s median hourly wage is $25.60—
34 percent higher than the national median hourly wage of $19.14 acrossall industries and occupations (Table 4).xlii
All technology sectors support a wage premium over the national
median. Transmission, distribution, and storage workers earn roughly$31 per hour, or 63 percent above the national median wage, andelectric power generation workers earn about $27 per hour—42 percent
above national wages.
Table 4.
Energy Wages by Technology Sectorxliii

Technology
SectorMedianHourlyWage

Premium or
Discount35
Compared
to National
Median of$19.14

Electric Power
Generation$27.1942%896,830

1.5%

10.7%

Fuels

$23.8925%

1,148,893

6.9%

13.7%

$31.2563%

1,383,646

3.8%

16.5%

$24.4428%

2,378,893

5.8%

28.4%

Motor Vehicles$22.2916%

2,556,492

3.8%

30.6%

Overall Energy
Industry$25.6034%

8,364,754

4.5%

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTTransmission,
Distribution &Storage
EnergyEfficiency

National
Median Wage

Total
Employment,
2019

Employment
Growth,2017-2019

Percent of
Total Energy
Employment,2019$19.14

Across industry segments, utility employees and mining and extraction
workers earn the highest premiums compared to the national medianhourly wage, at $41 and $36 per hour, respectively (see column five inTable 5). However, when comparing energy worker wages to overall
industry-specific wages, energy workers in mining, wholesale trade, andrepair and maintenance had the highest wage premiums (see column
four in Table 5). For example, energy workers in wholesale trade earn a
29 percent premium compared to the overall wholesale trade industry,
which includes both energy and non-energy workers.

35 A “premium” is defined here as the percentage above the comparative wage. A “discount” would|.

indicate that the wage is below the comparative wage; this would be portrayed as a negative percentage.

43

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Table 5.
Energy Wages by Industry Segmentxliv(OverallIndustry)

Premium/
DiscountCompared
to Overall
Industry

Premium/
DiscountCompared
to National
Median of$19.14

Total
Employment,
2019

Percentof Total
Employment,2019$13.18$13.180%-31%35,616

0.4%

Mining andExtraction37$36.32$25.4443%90%

535,210

6.4%

Utilities$41.08$37.5010%

115%

601,225

7.2%

Construction$25.53$23.578%33%

2,142,087

25.6%

Manufacturing$23.02$20.4613%

20%

1,778,343

21.3%

MedianHourlyWageMedianHourlyWage(Energy
Workers)

Agriculture36

Industry

Wholesale
Trade38
Transportation(commodity
flows)
Professional
Services$19.94$15.4729%

4%860,66110.3%$36.08$34.31

5%

89%285,375

3.4%$28.17$25.959%47%

1,057,995

12.6%

Other Services(incl. Repair andMaintenance)$19.68$16.3321%

3%1,068,244

12.8%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

National Median
Wage

44

$19.1436 Energy-related jobs in agriculture are based entirely on publicly-available data using several specific

NAICS codes. As such, the overall national agriculture industry wage is used here, as opposed to anenergy-specific wage extrapolation. Because BLS does not provide agriculture wages to the six-digit
NAICS level, $13.18 is the best proxy estimate for energy jobs in the agriculture industry.
37 This wage includes coal, oil, and natural gas mining and extraction but does not include support
activities for mining. Including mining and extraction support services would result in a median hourly
wage of $25.44.
38 The weighted median hourly wages for this industry segment include retail trade (NAICS 42-45).
Though the USEER excludes retail employment, fuel dealers (NAICS 454310) are surveyed as part of thedata collection effort.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

What determines energy sector wages?
There are many factors that contribute to the hourly wages of energy
workers. Wages in the energy sector are dependent on education, skills,
and experience level, as well as other attributes specific to an
occupational role, such as worker safety, geographic location, labormarket competition, or union representation. Though it may be difficult
to pinpoint a single key determinant, the industry mix of a technology
sector appears to be highly correlated to energy worker wages.
Generally speaking, energy-related jobs in construction andmanufacturing pay less than those in utilities, mining and extraction, andprofessional services (see Table 5). Workers in the utilities sector earn
$41.08 per hour while energy-specific construction jobs support anaverage hourly wage of about $25.53 per hour; utility employees earn a
61 percent premium over energy workers in the construction industry.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTAs a result, the industry mix of each technology sector is criticallyimportant to understanding energy wages. Technology sectors with ahigh proportion of utility jobs, such as electric power generation ortransmission, distribution, and storage, are more likely to support higher
overall wages; the high concentration of utilities jobs skews the overall
sector-wide median wage. The higher wages for these two sectors arein fact evident in Table 4 above.

45

It is important to note that industry as a driver of energy wages can also
be seen as a function of unionization. Though not the main focus of thisreport, unions are important to the discussion on energy jobs andwages. However, a consensus on unionization data is challenging due tovariations among federal datasets. For example, current datasets acrossthe Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Department ofLabor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and Mine Safety and HealthAdministration (MSHA) produce varying results across industry
segments. In particular, coal mining unionization cited by the Current
Population Survey indicates that union coverage for coal miners was at
roughly 10 percent in 2019xlv while the EIA publication of MSHA data in2019 cited a roughly 20 percent unionization rate for the coal mining
industry.xlvi Such varying methodologies and definitions contribute todifficulties in extrapolating energy-specific unionization rates.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Chapter 4
Industry Crosscuts

46

The following section includes aggregated industry crosscuts acrosstechnology sector based on fuel type. For example, natural gas jobs
span electric power generation, fuels, and transmission anddistribution.39 Across all industry crosscuts, workers in the nuclear,electric power transmission and distribution, natural gas, and coalindustries earn hourly wages that are at least 50 percent higher thannational median wages. Nuclear workers earn the highest wage
premium, at nearly 105 percent above the national median wage of$19.14.
Other industries like wind, solar, energy efficiency, and storage all
support wage premiums that are at least 35 percent above the national
median. These energy industries have lower median hourly wages
compared to other energy industry crosscuts (Table 6). In general,
however, all energy industry crosscuts support wages that are higher
than the national median hourly wage.

39 For more information on the difference between industry crosscuts and energy technology sectors andsub-technologies, please refer to Chapter 3: Energy Job Wages Explained. Caution is advised whencomparing employment totals to the USEER, as energy jobs may be summed in a variety of ways.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Table 6.
Overall Industry Crosscut Wages, 201940

Industry
CrosscutMedianHourly Wage

Premium or
DiscountCompared to
National
MedianTotal
Employment,
2019

Percent of
Total Energy
Employment,
2019

Nuclear$39.19104.8%

70,3230.8%

Electric Power
Transmission &Distribution$31.8066.1%

830,291

9.9%

Natural Gas$30.33

58.5%

636,043

7.6%

Coal

$28.6949.9%

185,689

2.2%

Hydropower$26.9740.9%

67,7720.8%

Oil$26.5938.9%839,831

10.0%

Wind

$25.95

35.6%

114,774

1.4%

Solar

$24.4827.9%345,393

4.1%$24.4427.7%

2,378,893

28.4%$24.3627.3%

80,550

1.0%

EnergyEfficiency
Storage (excl.
fossil fuels)|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

National
Median Wage47

$19.1440 Total employment in this table will not sum to total energy jobs in the U.S. for 2019 as these industry

crosscuts represent the sum of various sub-sectors across the energy industry but do not include allenergy-related jobs.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSCoal
The coal industry crosscut includes utility workers as well asmechanics, technicians, and other construction workers that
support coal electric power generation and coal-fired power
plants; coal fuel mining, extraction, and production workers;
individuals involved in the transportation and distribution of coalfuel products; and those engaged in financial, legal, or otherbusiness support for coal companies. Between 2016 and 2019, thecoal industry shed jobs at a rate of six percent, from roughly
197,600 to 185,700 workers.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Coal jobs are largely concentrated in the mining and utilities sector,
which combined account for 51 percent of all coal jobs (Figure 6). The
overall median hourly wage for coal workers is $28.69 per hour, withenergy workers in specific industries like utilities and professional
services earning more than the average coal worker. In contrast, mining
and transportation jobs earn less than the overall median hourly wage
(Table 7). Despite the high wages, many jobs in coal generation andfuels do not require degrees. Powerplant operators, electrical powerline installers, and industrial machinery mechanics all require no morethan a high school diploma while continuous mining machine operators
have no formal educational requirement. However, many of these jobs
require long-term on-the-job training, and the length of work
experience may contribute to higher wages.

48

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 6.
Coal Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
MiningUtilities
Professional Services
Commodity Flows
Manufacturing

32,582

Construction
Trade
Other Services

55,66930,535

38,158

11,726

8,847

7,135

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 7.
Coal Wages by Industry Segment, 201949

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (CoalWorkers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Mining$24.75$25.44-2.7%

Utilities$41.30$37.5010.1%

Construction$26.65$23.57

13.1%

Manufacturing$22.64$20.46

10.7%

Wholesale Trade$17.43$15.47

12.7%

Transportation(commodity flows)$24.24$34.31-29.4%

Professional Services$29.17$25.95

12.4%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$18.46$16.3313.0%

Overall$28.69$19.14

49.9%

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSElectric Power Transmission & Distribution
The electric power transmission and distribution industry includes
all jobs associated with electricity transmission, including utility
workers; construction workers that support the installation andmaintenance of power lines or the building of new smart grid andmicrogrid systems; manufacturers developing products andcomponent parts relevant to electricity transmission; sales
representatives involved in selling technologies related toelectricity transmission; and those engaged in financial, legal, orother business support for these companies. Between 2016 and2019, electric power transmission and distribution grew by three
percent, or roughly 24,000 workers.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Most electric power transmission and distribution41 jobs are either inutilities or construction. The utilities industry represents 36 percent of
all jobs and construction workers account for 35 percent of jobs (Figure7). Electric power transmission and distribution workers earn a medianhourly wage of $31.80—66 percent above national wages (Table 8).
With the exception of engineers and general and operations managers,
many jobs in electric power transmission and distribution do not requirea four-year degree. Electrical power-line installers, customer service
representatives, control and valve installers, and meter readers typicallyrequire a high school diploma at entry.

50

41 It should be noted that the “electric power transmission and distribution” industry crosscut is not thesame as the major technology sector “transmission, distribution, and storage”. The electric powertransmission and distribution industry crosscut excludes any petroleum and natural gas transmission,
distribution, or storage, as these jobs would be counted under the separate petroleum and natural gas
industry crosscut sections. For more information on the difference between industry crosscuts andenergy technology sectors and sub-technologies, please refer to Chapter 3: Energy Job Wages Explained.
Caution is advised when comparing employment totals to the USEER, as energy jobs may be summed in avariety of ways.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 7.
Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Utilities
Construction
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Trade
Other Services
119,043

300,548

67,360287,489

41,611

14,
24
1

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 8.
Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Wages by Industry Segment,
201942

51

Industry

Median Hourly Wage
(Electric Power
Transmission &Distribution Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
DiscountUtilities$40.64$37.508.4%

Construction$25.61$23.57

8.7%

Manufacturing$22.23$20.46

8.7%

Wholesale Trade$16.81$15.47

8.7%

Professional Services$28.20$25.95

8.7%

Other Services (incl.
Repair andMaintenance)$17.74$16.33

8.6%

Overall$31.80$19.14

66.1%

42 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

Energy Efficiency
The energy efficiency industry includes all construction andinstallation workers engaged in building efficiency improvements,
such as weatherization, HVAC and lighting upgrades andinstallations, or the maintenance of heating and cooling systems;
manufacturers of energy efficient products and component parts
including ENERGY STAR appliances and LED, CFL, and otherefficient lighting technologies; wholesale sales representatives thatsell energy efficient products; and those engaged in financial, legal,or other business support for these companies. Between 2016 and2019, the energy efficiency workforce grew by nine percent,adding about 197,400 jobs to the energy workforce.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTEnergy efficiency jobs are concentrated in construction andprofessional services, though at 56 percent of total employment,
construction workers account for the majority of energy efficiency
employment; professional services represent 21 percent of total jobs
(Figure 8). Overall, energy efficiency workers earn $24.44 per hour,which is 28 percent above the national median wage (Table 9). Because
so many occupations in energy efficiency are concentrated inconstruction, much of the workforce consists of carpenters, electricians,
plumbers, HVAC mechanics, construction supervisors or managers, andconstruction laborers. Of these occupations, only construction
managers typically possess a degree and HVAC mechanics require a
postsecondary nondegree award; however, the remaining occupations
typically require only a high school diploma.

52

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 8.
Energy Efficiency Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Construction
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Trade
Other Services

499,261

325,255

1,323,444

186,824

44,
108

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 9.
Energy Efficiency Wages by Industry Segment, 201943

53

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Energy
Efficiency Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Construction$25.10$23.57

6.5%

Manufacturing$21.78$20.46

6.5%

Wholesale Trade$16.47$15.47

6.5%

Professional Services$27.62$25.95

6.4%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$17.39$16.33

6.5%

Overall$24.44$19.1427.7%

43 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

Hydropower
The hydropower industry includes all jobs that directly andindirectly support electricity production through low-impact andtraditional hydropower. This includes manufacturing jobs andwholesale sales representatives that develop and sell technologies
and components for hydroelectric dams; utility workers;
construction and maintenance workers that support hydropower;
and those engaged in financial, legal, or other business support forthese companies. Between 2015 and 2019, hydropower firms
created roughly 2,200 new jobs, for a growth rate of over three
percent in four years.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Unlike the other crosscuts, hydropower has a fairly even spread of jobs
across manufacturing, utilities, professional services, and construction.
Manufacturing and utilities each account for 26 percent of totalhydropower employment, followed by professional services at 19
percent and construction at 16 percent (Figure 9). The median hourly
wage for the hydropower industry is $26.97—41 percent above national
wages. Of all utility jobs across each industry crosscut, hydropower
utility workers have the lowest median wage of $36.40 which is three
percent below the national median hourly wage (Table 10). Many of thejobs found in the utilities sector of the hydropower industry require only
a high school diploma or equivalent upon entry; these include power
plant operators, electrical power-line installers, industrial machinerymechanics, or supervisors. Engineers, managers, and computer systems
analysts all require degrees.

54

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 9.
Hydropower Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Manufacturing
Utilities
Professional Services
Construction
Trade12,584

Other Services

17,898

10,847

17,4648,669|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 10.
Hydropower Wages by Industry Segment, 201944

55

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Hydropower
Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
DiscountUtilities$36.40$37.50-2.9%

Construction$25.84$23.57

9.6%

Manufacturing$22.43$20.46

9.6%

Wholesale Trade$16.96$15.47

9.6%

Professional Services$28.45$25.95

9.6%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$17.90$16.33

9.6%

Overall$26.97$19.1440.9%

44 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSNatural Gas
The natural gas industry includes all jobs supporting the natural
gas and advanced natural gas production and electricity
generation in the U.S., including utility employees at natural gas
power plants; construction workers building new natural gas
power plants; workers engaged in the extraction and productionof natural gas fuels; individuals engaged in the wholesale trade anddistribution of natural gas fuels as well as natural gas fuels storage;
and those engaged in financial, legal, or other business support forthese companies. Between 2016 and 2019, the natural gas industry
grew by almost five percent, creating just over 28,300 new jobs infour years.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Similar to coal, natural gas employment is heavily concentrated inutilities and mining; together these two industry segments account for
55 percent of natural gas employment. The natural gas industry also hassignificant employment in the construction industry, which represents 17
percent of total natural gas jobs (Figure 10). Natural gas workers earn
$30.33 per hour—58 percent above the national median. Natural gas
workers in the mining industry earn a 48 percent premium over the
average worker in mining and extraction trades. Overall, utility
employees receive the highest median hourly wages, at $41.03 per hour
(Table 11). The occupational staffing pattern for the natural gas industry
is similar to coal, with many construction- and mining-related positions
that do not require more than a high school diploma.

56

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 10.
Natural Gas Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Utilities
MiningConstruction
Professional Services
Manufacturing
109,576
Trade
Commodity Flows
183,612

Other Services

54,377

165,602

51,98638,00930,644|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 11.
Natural Gas Wages by Industry Segment, 201957

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Natural Gas
Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Mining$37.67$25.44

48.1%

Utilities$41.03$37.509.4%

Construction$27.56$23.57

16.9%

Manufacturing$22.54$20.46

10.2%

Wholesale Trade$17.07$15.47

10.3%

Transportation(commodity flows)$35.89$34.31

4.6%

Professional Services$28.17$25.95

8.6%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$18.28$16.33

11.9%

Overall$30.33$19.14

58.4%

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

Nuclear
The nuclear industry includes all jobs associated with nuclear
electric power generation and the production and distribution of
nuclear fuels. This includes utility employees; construction andmaintenance workers; mining, manufacturing, and production; andthose engaged in financial, legal, or other business support forthese companies. Between 2016 and 2019, the nuclear industry
saw jobs decline by just over eight percent, or roughly 6,500 jobs.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Nuclear jobs are largely concentrated in the utilities industry; 63 percent
of all nuclear jobs are found in utilities, with professional services
accounting for 21 percent of nuclear employment (Figure 11). The
nuclear industry has median hourly wages of $39.19, which is almost 105
percent higher the national median of $19.14. Again, individuals working
in utilities receive the highest median hourly wage at $47 per hour, or
25 percent above the average utility worker in the United States (Table
12). Within the nuclear utilities industry, nuclear and electrical engineers
require a Bachelor’s degree. However, many of the other jobs including
power reactor operators, technicians, supervisors, and mechanics
require no more than a high school diploma.

58

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 11.
Nuclear Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Utilities
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Trade
Construction
MiningOther Services
14,757

4,979
44,366

3,567

2,217

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 12.
Nuclear Wages by Industry Segment, 201959

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Nuclear
Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Mining$30.86$25.44

21.3%

Utilities$47.00$37.5025.3%

Construction$26.41$23.57

12.0%

Manufacturing$22.62$20.46

10.6%

Wholesale Trade$17.24$15.47

11.4%

Professional Services$28.86$25.95

11.2%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$18.30$16.33

12.1%

Overall$39.19$19.14104.8%INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSPetroleum
The petroleum industry includes all individuals that support theextraction, production, distribution, and electricity generation frompetroleum fuels. This includes all workers in the oil mining,
extraction, and production industries; workers involved in thetransportation of petroleum fuels; construction workers that
support the building or maintenance of power plants; and thoseengaged in financial, legal, or other business support for thesecompanies. Between 2016 and 2019, the petroleum industry grewby 23 percent, resulting in an additional nearly 156,800 new jobs inthe energy workforce over those four years.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe petroleum industry45 consists mostly of mining and manufacturingjobs. Mining and extraction workers account for 37 percent of
petroleum industry employment, followed by manufacturing at 19
percent (Figure 12). The overall median wage for petroleum industry
jobs sits at $26.59, or 39 percent above national wages. Petroleum
mining and extraction workers earn 48 percent above the averagemining and extraction employee in the U.S., but utility employees are
the highest paid in the industry (Table 13). Similar to coal and naturalgas, many of the mining and production jobs in the petroleum industry
have typical entry level education requirements that range from noformal credential to a postsecondary nondegree award.

60

45 The petroleum industry crosscut in this report includes “other fossil fuels”. As such, not all industry

segment employment totals in Figure 12 below will not match those described in Table 37 of the 2020
USEER due to the slight difference in sub-technology definition.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 12.
Petroleum Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019

MiningManufacturing
Commodity Flows
Construction
313,591

160,972

Professional Services
Trade
Other Services
Utilities

111,191

104,468

78,201

68,810|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 13.
Petroleum Wages by Industry Segment, 201946

61

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (OilWorkers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Mining$37.67$25.44

48.1%

Utilities$41.30$37.5010.1%

Construction$27.44$23.57

16.4%

Manufacturing$22.47$20.469.8%

Wholesale Trade$16.99$15.47

9.8%

Transportation(commodity flows)$39.34$34.31

14.7%

Professional Services$28.50$25.95

9.8%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$17.94$16.33

9.9%

Overall$26.59$19.1438.9%

46 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

Solar
The solar industry consists mostly of construction workers likeelectricians and solar photovoltaic installers that are engaged in
the building of residential, commercial, and utility-scale solar
photovoltaic or concentrated solar power projects; manufacturersof solar panels and component parts; wholesale trade
representatives involved in the sales and distribution of solar
products; and those engaged in financial, legal, or other businesssupport for these companies. Between 2016 and 2019, the solar
industry shed jobs at a rate of almost eight percent—a loss of justover 28,400 workers. However, since then the solar industry hasrebounded between 2018 and 2019.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe majority of solar jobs are found in construction. Just over half—53
percent—of solar workers are in the construction industry, followed byprofessional services at 14 percent and manufacturing at 13 percent(Figure 13). The median hourly wage for solar workers is $24.48, or 28
percent above the national median (Table 14). Because many jobs arefound in the construction industry, educational requirements for thesolar industry are likely similar to those found in energy efficiency
described above. Construction and installation occupations like solar
photovoltaic installers, electricians, and construction laborers typicallyrequire a high school diploma at entry.

62

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 13.
Solar Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Construction
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Other Services

49,167

Trade
Utilities

46,324

183,909

27,05235,2603,
6
8|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 14.
Solar Wages by Industry Segment, 201947

63

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Solar
Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
DiscountUtilities$43.17$37.5015.1%

Construction$25.89$23.57

9.8%

Manufacturing$22.47$20.469.8%

Wholesale Trade$16.99$15.47

9.8%

Professional Services$28.50$25.95

9.8%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$17.94$16.33

9.9%

Overall$24.48$19.1427.9%

47 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS

Storage (excluding fossil fuels)
The storage industry includes battery48, mechanical, and thermal
storage, but does not include storage of natural gas, petroleum,coal, nuclear, or biofuels, as these are included in their respective
industry crosscuts. These jobs include construction and installation
positions involved in the building or connecting energy storage
units to electricity generating units and the grid; manufacturers
and wholesale trade representatives of storage technologies andcomponents; and those engaged in financial, legal, or otherbusiness support for these companies. From 2016 through 2019,the storage industry saw jobs decline by almost 11 percent—roughly 9,600 jobs.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe majority of energy storage jobs are found in construction andmanufacturing. Construction employees account for 47 percent of totalenergy storage employment, while manufacturing workers represent 22
percent of total jobs (Figure 14). Median hourly wages are at $24.36 forthe overall industry, which is 27 percent above national wages (Table
15). As with the energy efficiency and solar industries’ prevalence ofconstruction jobs, typical educational requirements for manyoccupations in this industry range from a high school diploma to a
postsecondary nondegree credential.

48 This includes lithium batteries, lead-based batteries, other solid-electrode batteries, vanadium redox|.

flow batteries, and other flow batteries.

64

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 14.
Storage Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019

Construction

17,549Manufacturing
Professional Services
Trade
Other Services
Commodity Flows

37,90814,609

8,232

1,449

804

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 15.
Storage Wages by Industry Segment, 201949

65

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (Storage
Workers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
Discount

Construction$25.53$23.57

8.3%

Manufacturing$22.16$20.468.3%

Wholesale Trade$16.76$15.47

8.3%

Transportation(commodity flows)$41.22$34.31

20.1%

Professional Services$28.10$25.95

8.3%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$17.69$16.33

8.3%

Overall$24.36$19.1427.3%

49 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTSWind
The wind industry includes mostly construction and installation
jobs such as wind turbine service technicians involved in thedevelopment of new wind turbine projects; manufacturers andwholesale trade representatives of wind turbines and component
parts; and those engaged in financial, legal, or other businesssupport for these companies. From 2016 through 2019, the windindustry saw jobs grow by almost 13 percent—an additional 13,000
workers in the energy labor market.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTWind industry jobs are mainly found across construction, professional
services, and manufacturing. Construction workers account for about athird of total jobs, while professional service workers in the windindustry represent a quarter of total employment (Figure 15). Medianhourly wages for the wind industry sit at $25.95—about 36 percent
higher than the national median (Table 16). Wind turbine service
technicians typically require a postsecondary nondegree award, andmany of the other construction-related positions in this industry requirea high school diploma or equivalent. Engineers, management analysts,
and general and operations managers in the wind industry do typicallyrequire a Bachelor’s degree.

66

INDUSTRY CROSSCUTS
Figure 15.
Wind Jobs by Industry Segment, 2019
Construction
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Trade
Utilities
Other Services

26,40837,91012,30528,873

6,360

2,918

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 16.
Wind Wages by Industry Segment, 201950

67

Industry

Median Hourly
Wage (WindWorkers)

Median Hourly
Wage(Nationally)

Premium or
DiscountUtilities$39.23$37.504.6%

Construction$26.56$23.57

12.7%

Manufacturing$23.06$20.46

12.7%

Wholesale Trade$17.44$15.47

12.7%

Professional Services$29.24$25.95

12.7%

Other Services (incl.
Repair and Maintenance)$18.40$16.33

12.7%

Overall$25.95$19.14

35.6%

50 Industry segments with the same premium are a result of low sample size. In order to produce anestimate for these wages, the research team relied on technology-specific premiums applied across eachindustry segment.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Chapter 5
Energy Technology Sectors

68Electric Power Generation
Trends Impacting the Electric Power Generation Sector
In the first two decades of the 21st century, the U.S. electric power
generation (EPG) sector shifted dramatically from relying on coal as theprimary fuel for electricity to a more diverse portfolio. Figure 16
highlights how coal accounted for 52 percent of the national electricity
generation mix in 2000, followed by nuclear at 20 percent and natural
gas at 16 percent; renewables and solar accounted for less than three
percent. By 2019, natural gas generation produced 39 percent of thenation’s electricity, followed by coal at 24 percent and nuclear at justunder 20 percent (Figure 17).
Since 2000, renewable generation, including hydropower, solar, wind,biomass, and geothermal energy rose from just over nine percent toalmost 18 percent in 2019. Wind is now the largest source of renewableelectricity.xlvii

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Figure 16.
Electricity
Generation
Mix, 2000

69

Figure 17.
Electricity
Generation
Mix, 2019

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORSAt the end of 2019, the EPG sector employed 896,830 workers, a netincrease of almost 26 percent—or about 183,400 new jobs—since 2015.
This growth largely reflects the build out of generation capacity innatural gas and renewables. Most recently, sharp declines in
employment have taken place in both coal and nuclear generation.
From 2016 through 2019, coal generation lost over 6,300 jobs, while
nuclear generation lost almost 7,300 jobs—an almost 11 percent decline.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Solar employment, which expanded rapidly at the beginning of thedecade, added over 73,600 jobs between 2015 and 2016 before seeing
declines from 2016 through 2018. The solar workforce rebounded byroughly 10,400 jobs from 2018 through 2019. Figure 18 shows thefluctuations in employment by generation sub-technology between
2015 and 2019. Despite year-over-year variations in many technologies,
the overall trends remain clear.

70

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 18.
EPG Employment by Sub-technology, 2015-2019
050,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000350,000400,000

Solar

Wind

Coal

Advanced Natural Gas

NuclearTraditional Hydropower|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTNatural Gas

71

Bioenergy/CHP

Other

Oil & Other Petroleum2015
Low-impact Hydropower

2016
2017
2018

Geothermal

2019

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Coal & Nuclear Generation
The job losses in coal and nuclear generation are not surprising, as bothsub-sectors have seen the decommissioning or retirement of power
plants over the last decade. Between 2010 and the beginning of 2019,
more than 546 coal-fired power units—roughly 102 gigawatts (GW)—
were retired, and plant owners project to retire another 17 GW by theend of 2025.xlviii Similarly, since 2013, six commercial nuclear reactors
have closed down with another eight planned closures by 2025.xlix
As would be expected given these closures, the primary occupations
employed within utilities—which is the largest industry sector for both
nuclear (73 percent) and coal generation (48 percent)—are also seeing
job losses. The number of nuclear engineers, nuclear power reactor
operators, and nuclear technicians employed within the nuclear electric
power generation sector51 in the U.S. has declined by a rate of roughly
17 to 26 percent between 2016 and 2019. In total, employment of theseoccupations in nuclear electric power generation declined by almost
3,600 workers.l

Natural Gas Generation

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTWith the low cost of natural gas extraction, its relatively low capitalcosts for new generation, and the capacity to balance variable
renewable power, natural gas usage has expanded rapidly, becoming
the number one generation source in 2016.li In 2019 alone, natural gas
generation added almost 7,500 employees in its utility sector for a totalof 66,500 jobs. Over the same time, natural gas generation createdabout 500 new construction jobs resulting in 20,200 total workers.
However, natural gas facilities do not require the same number ofoperations jobs as coal-fired power plants. For example, an 1,100
megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant built by DTE Energy inMichigan will replace three coal-fired units that currently employ 500
people. The new plant will employ only 35 people when it opens in
2022.lii
Due to emissions standards, low natural gas prices, and the efficiency of
new natural gas turbine technology, these coal to natural gas
conversions are occurring across the country. In 2010, there was almost
317 GW of coal-fired capacity. By the end of 2019, roughly 49 GW wereretired, 14 GW had been converted to also burn natural gas, and 15 GW
were completely replaced with natural gas combined cycle plants.liii

Solar Generation
For solar electric power generation, the employment trends are slightly
more nuanced. Despite declining overall employment, total solar
photovoltaic installer occupations grew by roughly 20 percent between
2016 and 2019,liv indicating that the overall declines in employment areless related to deployment and appear to be the result of shifting|.

51 NAICS 221113 (Nuclear Electric Power Generation)

72

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
business models and the loss of door-to-door sales jobs in this subtechnology.
One of the most important trends in the solar industry is the shift toutility-scale projects. In 2019, two-thirds of installed solar capacity wasfor utility-scale projects and another 14 percent was for non-residentialbuildings such as commercial real estate. In fact, only 20 percent of
installations were for the residential sector. However, just over 50
percent of employment was found in residential installations, a declineof almost five percent over the last four years. The share of utility-scalesolar employment has risen by about nine percentage points to almost
30 percent between 2017 and 2019.lv

EPG Sector Employment & Wages
Jobs in the EPG sector are spread across six primary industrial sectors
as shown in Figure 19 below, which compares changes in these sectors
from 2018 through 2019. Overall, construction saw the greatest absolute
growth in jobs—an increase of roughly 10,600 workers—followed byprofessional and business services. Utilities, by contrast, shed roughly
2,000 jobs from 2018 through 2019. While the sector only added a net
20,000 jobs in 2019, the change from one sub-technology to anotherand one industry sector to another was significant, as the examples in
the utility sector and natural gas, nuclear, and coal sub-sectors cited
above illustrate.
Figure 19.
EPG Employment by Industry, 2018-201952
299,391

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Construction

288,767

183,565

Utilities

185,539

182,688

Professional and Business

175,713113,146

Manufacturing

Wholesale Trade

113,247

74,906
71,5502019

Other43,13440,769|.

52 This chart includes all solar jobs, not just majority-time employment as featured in Figure 1.

73

2018

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORSThe median wage in most sub-technologies of the EPG sector issubstantially higher than the overall median wage of $19.14 in the UnitedStates in 2019, but there are variations in those premiums.53 Two
specific sub-technologies that have experienced job losses in the last
three years—nuclear and coal generation—pay the highest premiums of
115 percent and 80 percent, respectively. Jobs in the other renewablegeneration sector, which includes geothermal, hydropower, bioenergy,
and combined heat and power earn roughly $18 per hour, which isabout nine percent below the geographically weighted median wage
(Table 17).

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 17.
EPG Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 201974

Energy Sub-Sector

Median Hourly
Wages, 2019

Geographically Weighted
Premium/Discount fromMedian Hourly Wages

Nuclear Generation$ 41.32

114.6%

Coal Generation$ 33.64

79.6%

Natural Gas Generation$ 34.02

76.5%

Wind Generation$ 25.95

34.9%

Oil Generation$ 24.49

25.7%

Solar Generation$ 24.48

20.9%

Other Renewable Generation54$ 17.98-8.6%

Table 17 highlights median hourly wages by EPG sub-technology. The wage
data is weighted by both occupational composition and industry mix withineach sub-technology to account for variability across supervisory and nonsupervisory roles as well as differences across utilities, construction,
manufacturing, trade, and professional services. The third column compares
the median hourly wages for each sub-sector to the geographically weighted
median. Since some sub-sectors are more highly concentrated in specificstates, such as solar jobs in California, the national median wage is weighted
by the state-specific sub-technology job concentration to account for theuneven employment distribution across the nation.

53 A “premium” is defined here as the percentage above the comparative wage. A “discount” would

indicate that the wage is below the comparative wage; this would be portrayed as a negative percentage
as seen in “other renewable generation” in Table 19.
54 Other renewable generation includes geothermal, low-impact and traditional hydropower, bioenergy,
and combined heat and power.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Occupational Wages & Benefits
The specific occupations within some declining sub-technologies orindustry sectors—highlighted in Table 18—pay premiums that are
roughly double to triple the national median hourly wage of $19.14 in
2019.lvi
Nuclear power reactor operators, technicians, and engineers earned
between $48 to $55 per hour, while power plant and gas plant
operators working in the EPG sector55 earned a respective $49.18 and$42.42 per hour. Wind turbine technicians earn $25.44 per hour, whichis 33 percent above the national median of $19.14. Similarly, solar
photovoltaic installers earn between 13 to 34 percent above the national
median—roughly $22 to $26 per hour, depending on possession of anelectrician’s license.
Construction trade supervisors within the EPG sector earn a 71 percent
premium above the national median hourly wage of $19.14 and a 41
percent premium over the weighted median hourly wage for all
construction occupations, which was $23.23 in 2019.56|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTIn fact, when comparing these jobs to the national weighted median for
all construction occupations, as opposed to the overall national median,plumbers and carpenters within EPG earn a premium of roughly 25 and
15 percent, respectively.

75

55 Some power plant or gas plant operators may also be found working in the TDS energy sector. The

wages discussed here are for those plant operators that work in the EPG sector.
56 The median hourly wage for Construction and Extraction Occupations was $22.80 according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019). When weighted according to
the number of jobs in each specific occupation code, the weighted median comes out to $23.23.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 18.
EPG Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages

76

2019 National
Median Hourly
Wages57

EPG Wage
Premium or
Discount Comparedto National Median58

Employment
Trends,2016-2019

Nuclear Engineers$ 54.55

185%↓

Power Plant Operators59$ 49.18

157%↓

Nuclear Power Reactor
Operators$ 48.33

153%↓

Gas Plant Operators$ 42.42

122%↓

Nuclear Technicians$ 39.46

106%↓

First-Line Supervisors ofConstruction Trades andExtraction Workers$ 32.68

71%↑

Plumbers, Pipefitters, andSteamfitters$ 28.96

51%↑

Wind Turbine Service
Technicians$ 25.44

33%↑

Carpenters$ 25.38

33%↑

Solar Photovoltaic
Installers (Non-Electrician)$ 21.58

13%↑

Solar Photovoltaic
Installers (Electrician)60$ 25.69

34%↑

Construction Laborers$ 19.35

1%↑

Table 18 depicts the median hourly wages for the typical occupations
employed within EPG. The rows highlighted in orange indicate occupations
that are in decline while those highlighted in green indicate occupations thatare growing.

57 The median hourly wages for all occupations, with the exception of Power Plant Operators, Gas Plant

Operators, Construction Laborers, Carpenters, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, Solar Photovoltaic
Installers (Electrician), and First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers, arefrom the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019). Unlike otherenergy sectors like energy efficiency or motor vehicles, which house non-energy specific occupations,many jobs within EPG, including solar photovoltaic installers or wind turbine technicians, are entirely
energy-specific. Because of this, energy-specific wage data does not need to be extrapolated and can bepulled directly from BLS. For construction-related occupations and gas and power plant operators that
may be found across other energy sectors, these wages are extrapolated and specific to construction
workers and plant operators within EPG, not the overall median wages for the entire occupational group.
58 The national occupational median hourly wage in 2019 was $19.14 according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019).
59 Although the natural gas generation utility sector is growing, new plants are more efficient andautomated, requiring fewer employees. This may be contributing to the decline in gas plant operators,
specifically, despite an overall growth in the sector’s jobs.
60 These are solar photovoltaic installers who are licensed electricians. Not all solar photovoltaic installers
are required to have an electrician’s license, as licensing requirements vary by state.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Between 65 to 94 percent of energy employers for these occupations
contribute to a retirement plan, and 77 to 98 provide full or partial
healthcare coverage (Table 19).
Table 19.
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 201961|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Healthcare Benefits

77

Retirement

Fullcoverage

PartialcoverageNocoverage

Firm
contribution

No firm
contribution

Power Plant
Operators

33.5%

64.7%

1.9%

91.4%

8.6%

Gas Plant
Operators

34.6%

63.6%

1.9%

92.6%

7.4%

Nuclear Power
ReactorOperators

29.5%

69.0%

1.5%

94.0%

6.0%

NuclearTechnicians

36.4%

54.3%

9.3%

83.3%

16.7%

NuclearEngineers

35.1%

59.2%

5.6%

88.9%

11.1%

Wind Turbine
ServiceTechnicians

31.7%

51.2%

17.1%

75.4%

24.6%

Solar
Photovoltaic
Installers

24.1%

54.8%

21.1%

65.3%

34.7%

Construction
Laborers

25.4%

53.8%

20.8%

71.3%

28.7%

Plumbers,
Pipefitters,
andSteamfitters

28.4%

49.9%

21.7%

73.5%

26.5%

Carpenters

24.4%

53.9%

21.7%

75.2%

24.8%

First-Line
Supervisors ofConstruction
Trades andExtraction
Workers

39.9%

44.9%

15.2%

84.2%

15.8%

Table 19 provides an overview of healthcare and retirement benefits by
occupation. Healthcare benefits are broken out into three categories
indicating whether a firm pays all healthcare insurance costs for an employee,some but not all costs, or makes no contributions to an employee’s healthcare
insurance costs. Retirement contributions may be made to a 401k, pension, or
IRA; firms either contribute to some type of retirement plan or do not makeany contributions at all.

61 Specific employment benefits survey data was not gathered for “nuclear power reactor operators”,“nuclear technician”, and “nuclear engineers”. Instead, benefits data reported for these occupations arederived from broader occupations surveyed within the nuclear electric power generation. The proxy
occupations include: “power plant operators”, “drafters, engineering technicians, and mapping
technicians,” and “engineers”.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Geographic Variability
As discussed in other sections of this report, the U.S. energy system isbeginning to rely more heavily on natural gas and renewable electricity
generation, with declining coal production and consumption. These
disparities in the energy transition become especially clear whencomparing resource use changes in specific states across the nation.
Ohio, home to the largest number of employees working in coal
generation at the end of 2019, also lost the largest number of workers inthis sector from 2016 through 2019. In three years, the state shed 25
percent of its coal generation workforce—just over 4,000 workers(Table 20). At the same time, the state’s natural gas generation sector
only grew by 28 percent, or 690 workers (Table 21). Other states withmajor job losses in coal electric power generation featured in Table 20
include Arizona (1,373 jobs lost), Colorado (889 jobs lost), and South
Carolina (814 jobs lost).
The top five states that accounted for about four in ten (43 percent)
new natural gas generation jobs between 2016 and 2019 are California,
Texas, Florida, New York, and Massachusetts. This is not surprising
given that 38 percent of the nation’s natural gas-fired generation
capacity is located in four of those five states—Texas, California, Florida,
and New York.lvii|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 20.
Top 10 States with Job Losses in Coal Electric Power Generation

78

State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Losses,
2016-2019% Job Loss,
2016-2019

Ohio

12,297(4,078)-25%

Arizona

4,687(1,373)-23%

Colorado

2,922

(889)

-23%

South Carolina

3,092

(814)

-21%

Kansas

2,379

(691)

-23%

Indiana

3,277

(687)

-17%

Missouri

2,321

(535)

-19%

West Virginia

2,035

(481)

-19%

Wisconsin

2,219

(473)

-18%

Kentucky

1,790

(471)

-21%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 21.
Top 10 States with Job Growth in Natural Gas Electric Power Generation
State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Growth,
2016-2019% Job Growth,
2016-2019

California

20,525

3,565

21%

Texas

7,876

2,966

60%

Florida14,9582,697

22%

New York

5,371

1,305

32%

Massachusetts

4,711

991

27%

Illinois

4,613

886

24%

Pennsylvania

2,966

884

42%

Michigan

3,591

845

31%

Arizona

4,446

798

22%

Ohio

3,168

690

28%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Demographics

79

Table 22 provides overall demographics for select EPG subtechnologies that are experiencing the greatest job losses or growth. In
terms of ethnic and racial minority representation, natural gas and wind
generation tend to have a higher proportion of Hispanic or Latinx
workers compared to nuclear and coal generation, but a lower
proportion of Black or African American workers (Table 22). This
indicates that the EPG sector is becoming more diverse in terms of
Hispanic or Latinx representation but less diverse in terms of Black or
African American representation.
Natural gas generation also has a higher proportion of women in theworkforce compared to the overall EPG sector average, but in general
women are significantly underrepresented across all sub-technologies inthe EPG sector compared to national workforce demographics.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 22.
EPG Demographics by Sub-technology, 2019|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Solar
Nuclear
Generation Generation

80

Coal
Natural Gas
Wind
Generation Generation Generation

National
Workforce
Demographicslviii

EPG
Overall

Male

70%

64%

66%

64%

69%

53%

68%

Female

30%

36%

34%

36%

31%

47%

32%

Hispanic or
Latinx

20%

15%

14%

18%

20%

18%

18%

Not
Hispanic or
Latinx

80%

85%

86%

82%

80%

82%

82%

AmericanIndian or
AlaskaNative

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

Asian

9%

10%

10%

10%

10%

6%

10%

Black orAfricanAmerican

8%

12%

11%

10%

8%

12%

9%

NativeHawaiianor other
Pacific
Islander

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

White

71%

66%

70%

64%

69%

78%

69%

Two ormore races

9%

10%

7%

14%

11%

2%

10%

Veterans

9%

6%

7%

8%

9%

6%

9%

55 and
over

11%

14%

17%

15%

15%

23%

14%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Fuels
Trends Impacting the Fuels Sector
Technological advancements are changing domestic fuel production.
Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in addition to overall
improved productivity have increased domestic oil and gas production.
Advances in renewable fuel technologies are expanding a market
around fuel resources such as corn ethanol and woody and non-woody
biomass. In 2019, the fuels sector accounted for more than 1.1 million
jobs, with the creation of 46,000 new jobs between 2015 and 2019.

Petroleum & Natural Gas Fuels

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTPetroleum and natural gas account for the largest source of
employment within the fuels sector. Since 2015, these two subtechnologies have created a net 72,100 jobs—a growth rate of almost
nine percent in four years (Figure 20). This job growth comes alongsidemarked increases in domestic production of both fuel sources. Over thelast two decades, domestic crude oil production rose by 85 percent
while natural gas production rose by 61 percent.lix In 2011, the U.S.
surpassed Russia as the world’s largest producer of natural gas, and in
2018, the U.S. surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest producer ofpetroleum.lx
The largest increase in employment for petroleum fuel industry sectors
was in the mining and extraction industry, which saw the addition of
4,900 jobs in 2019. The construction and manufacturing industries
within petroleum fuels also added a respective 2,300 and 2,700 jobs.
For natural gas fuel industry sectors, mining and extraction also
exhibited the greatest growth in jobs, with 2,700 new workers added in
2019.

Coal & Nuclear Fuels
Given the 37 percent decline of coal production over the last two
decades, coal fuels employment has also diminished over the last
several years.lxi In 2016, coal fuels jobs decreased by almost 17,000
workers, from a total of roughly 92,400 in 2015. Much of this decline is
attributable to the closure of many coal-fired units, as discussed
previously in the EPG chapter.
Despite the closure of nuclear generation units, nuclear fuel jobs haveseen modest growth over recent years. This growth is largely
concentrated in professional and business services and wholesaletrade—likely the related to the decommissioning of plants—while themining and extraction industry has seen continuous declines since 2016.
Domestic uranium production, the precursor to nuclear fuel, has been
diminishing over the last several years. The nation’s uranium ore mining
industry62 is already small. In 2016, there were 516 workers in theuranium ore mining industry and between 2016 and 2019, jobs declinedby 34 percent—a loss of 180 employees.lxii|.

62 NAICS 212291 (Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ore Mining)81

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORSAs domestic uranium production continues to trend towards all-timelows not seen since the 1950s, many owners and operators of remaining
nuclear power plants in the U.S. are importing uranium from foreignsources.lxiii Declining domestic production and rising imports for nuclear
fuel resources are likely to continue the downward trend of mining andextraction jobs in this sub-technology.

Renewable Fuels|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

A small but growing component of the nation’s fuels sector, renewablefuels accounted for almost 89,000 jobs in 2019. Despite job losses in
2016, corn ethanol sub-technologies have since seen employment
rebound through 2019 and hold steady at just under 35,000. Woody
and non-woody biomass sub-technologies have together created
21,300 new jobs over the last four years, for a total of 54,000.

82

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 20.
Fuels Employment by Sub-technology, 2015-2019
0

100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000

Petroleum

Natural Gas

Other

Coal

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTCorn Ethanol

83

Woody Biomass

Other Non-woody Biomass

2015
2016
2017
Nuclear2018
2019

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Fuels Sector Employment & Wages
Mining and extraction industries account for the largest segment of jobs
within the fuels sector (Figure 21). For petroleum fuels, mining andextraction accounted for more than half of all jobs—about 313,600 at
the end of 2019. The same applies for natural gas fuels, where mining
and extraction workers accounted for six in ten jobs, or 165,600 workers
in total. Following mining and extraction, 22 percent of fuels
employment is found in the manufacturing industry.
Renewable fuels like corn ethanol and woody biomass are mostly
concentrated in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and professional
services. Other non-woody biomass fuels like straw, manure, orvegetable oil had a higher concentration of profession and businessservices, likely because of research and development underway for thissub-technology.
Unlike EPG, the only major decline in industry sector employment was
experienced in agriculture and forestry, which shed about 300 jobs in
2019, approximately 0.9 percent. Mining and extraction saw the largest
absolute growth in jobs—about 7,400 more workers—while construction
within the fuels sector saw the largest relative growth—13 percent or
2,300 jobs.
Figure 21.
Fuels Employment by Industry, 2018-2019

535,210|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTMining and Extraction

84

527,844247,336

Manufacturing242,584
170,514

Professional and Business

165,801
137,677

Wholesale Trade

Agriculture and Forestry

Construction

135,251

35,61635,94820,40918,066

2019
2018

Other

2,131
2,060

All fuels sub-technologies pay a premium over the national median
wage of $19.14, though renewable fuels sub-technologies are only

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
slightly above this median as shown in Table 23 below. In general, coalfuels provided the highest premium over the geographically weighted
median wage.
Table 23.
Fuels Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019

Energy Sub-Sector

Median Hourly
Wages, 2019

Geographically Weighted
Premium/Discount fromMedian Hourly Wages

Coal Fuels$ 25.26

37.3%

Nuclear Fuels$ 25.44

32.0%

Natural Gas Fuels$ 24.43

32.7%

Petroleum Fuels$ 24.2228.9%

Renewable Fuels63$ 19.55

1.5%

Table 23 highlights median hourly wages by fuels sub-technology. The wage
data is weighted by both occupational composition and industry mix withineach sub-technology to account for variability across supervisory and nonsupervisory roles as well as differences across utilities, construction,
manufacturing, trade, and professional services. The third column compares
the median hourly wages for each sub-sector to the geographically weighted
median. Since some sub-sectors are more highly concentrated in specificstates, the national median wage is weighted by the state-specific subtechnology job concentration to account for the uneven employment
distribution across the nation.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Occupational Wages & Benefits

85

Many occupations are shared across both oil and gas sub-technologies,
such as roustabouts,64 service unit operators, and pump operators.
Table 24 provides wages for common occupations found within thefuels sector, with declining occupations highlighted in orange andgrowing occupations highlighted in green.
Despite overall job growth in the petroleum fuels sub-technology, thenumber of petroleum pump system operators shrunk by 2,300 workers
between 2016 and 2019, approximately five percent. This occupation
paid 85 percent above the national median of $19.14—the highest
premium compared to other fuels occupations. Other growing
occupations such as continuous mining machine operators, wellhead
pumpers, rotary drill operators, and others do not support premiums as
high as the petroleum pump operator occupation.
While high-wage jobs with lower education requirements like petroleum
pump system operators are on the decline, the number of petroleum
engineers, which typically require a bachelor’s degree, are rising;
between 2016 and 2019, the number of petroleum engineers in the U.S.
increased by 1,700 jobs, or five percent.lxiv
63 Renewable fuels include corn ethanol, woody biomass, and non-woody biomass like straw, manure,vegetable oil, and animal fats.
64 Roustabouts are manual laborers in the oil and gas drilling industries. They are tasked with a variety ofjobs to keep oil and gas rigs running safely and efficiently.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 24.
Fuels Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages
2019 National
Median Hourly
Wages65

Fuels Wage
Premium/DiscountCompared to
National Median66

Employment
Trends,2016-2019$ 35.66

86%↓$ 21.65

13%↓$ 21.54

13%↓$ 13.99-27%↓

Continuous Mining
Machine Operators$ 26.58

39%↑

Wellhead Pumpers$ 26.46

38%↑

Rotary Drill Operators,
Oil and Gas$ 26.43

38%↑

Geological and Hydrologic
Technicians$ 24.58

28%↑

Service Unit Operators,
Oil and Gas$ 22.47

17%↑

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas$ 18.71-2%↑

Petroleum Pump System
Operators, RefineryOperators, and Gaugers
Pump Operators,
Except Wellhead Pumpers
Excavating and Loading
Machine and Dragline
Operators, Surface Mining
Helpers—
Production Workers|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 24 depicts the median hourly wages for the typical occupations
employed within fuels. The rows highlighted in orange indicate occupations
that are in decline while those highlighted in green indicate occupations thatare growing.

86

More than 90 percent of employers for many occupations within thefuels sector provide either full or partial healthcare coverage, while 80
to 90 percent of employers for these same occupations makecontributions to some type of retirement plan (Table 25).

65 The median hourly wages for all occupations are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),

Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019). Unlike other energy sectors like energy efficiency or
motor vehicles, which house non-energy specific occupations, these jobs within fuels are entirely energyspecific. Because of this, energy-specific wage data does not need to be extrapolated and can be pulled
directly from BLS.
66 The national occupational median hourly wage in 2019 was $19.14 according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 25.
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019
Healthcare Benefits
Fullcoverage

Partialcoverage

29.8%

53.6%

16.5%

88.0%

12.0%

17.3%

79.3%

3.3%

84.2%

15.8%

16.7%

80.0%

3.3%

86.2%

13.8%

Helpers—Production
Workers

33.8%

60.6%

5.6%

83.1%

16.9%

Continuous Mining
Machine Operators

37.1%

57.3%

5.6%

83.1%

16.9%

Wellhead Pumpers

17.3%

79.3%

3.3%

84.2%

15.8%

38.8%

55.6%

5.6%

80.6%

19.4%

37.5%

62.5%

0.0%

87.5%

12.5%

Service Unit
Operators, Oiland Gas

38.8%

55.6%

5.6%

80.6%

19.4%

Roustabouts, Oiland Gas

37.8%

54.6%

7.6%

79.1%

20.9%

Petroleum Pump
System Operators,
Refinery Operators,
and Gaugers
Pump Operators,
Except Wellhead
Pumpers
Excavating andLoading Machine andDragline Operators,
Surface Mining|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Rotary Drill
Operators, Oiland GasGeologicaland Hydrologic
Technicians

87

Retirement

No
Firm
No firm
coverage contribution contribution

Table 25 provides an overview of healthcare and retirement benefits by
occupation. Healthcare benefits are broken out into three categories
indicating whether a firm pays all healthcare insurance costs for an employee,some but not all costs, or makes no contributions to an employee’s healthcare
insurance costs. Retirement contributions may be made to a 401k, pension, or
IRA; firms either contribute to some type of retirement plan or do not makeany contributions at all.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Geographic Variability
The shifting energy mix and trends described above for the EPG sector
carry over into the fuels sector as well, since fossil fuel resources havevarying concentrations across the nation. Kentucky experienced thelargest losses in coal fuel jobs, shedding almost 4,400 coal fuel jobs
between 2016 and 2019—a 36 percent decline in three years (Table 26).
The state did not see significant growth in other sub-technologies likepetroleum or natural gas fuels. In fact, natural gas fuels jobs declined by
400 jobs, and petroleum fuel jobs increased by only 640 workers.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 26.
Top 10 States with Job Losses in Coal Fuels

88

State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Losses,
2016-2019% Job Loss,
2016-2019

Kentucky

7,839(4,396)-36%

Illinois

3,622(1,714)-32%

Wyoming

5,742(1,003)

-15%

Texas

4,798

(870)

-15%

Louisiana

857

(561)

-40%

Colorado

1,936

(334)

-15%

Pennsylvania

6,268

(260)

-4%

Ohio

1,939

(218)

-10%

Indiana

2,957

(162)

-5%

Mississippi

460

(73)

-14%

While coal fuels jobs are declining on the whole, petroleum fuels
employment is growing across the nation. Texas, in particular, saw
petroleum fuels employment increase by just over 39,000 jobs from2016 through 2019; the state accounted for about four in ten (36percent) new petroleum fuel jobs during this time. This is not surprising,
given that Texas is the top producer of crude oil in the United States.
However, despite growth in petroleum fuels employment, the state also
saw the loss of 31,000 natural gas fuels jobs.
Additional states with significant growth in petroleum fuels include
California, Louisiana, and Oklahoma—all of which saw petroleum fuels
employment increased by more than 6,500 workers in three years.
Altogether, the top 10 states featured in Table 27 below represented 71
percent of petroleum fuels employment growth from 2016 through2019.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 27.
Top 10 States with Job Growth in Petroleum Fuels
State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Growth,
2016-2019% Job Growth,
2016-2019

Texas

214,715

39,25722%

California

57,303

8,737

18%

Louisiana

51,802

6,679

15%

Oklahoma

40,403

6,547

19%

Colorado

17,153

3,422

25%

North Dakota

13,872

3,099

29%

Pennsylvania

18,5503,096

20%

New Mexico

15,0202,580

21%Illinois

21,2862,547

14%

Florida

4,678

2,303

97%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Demographics

89

Fuels mining and extraction jobs are geographically concentrated,
generally in rural parts of the country. As a result, 83 percent of natural
gas fuels’ jobs are located in just 10 states. The same is true for coal andpetroleum mining and extraction employment with 72 percent of coaljobs and 74 percent of petroleum jobs located in the top ten states
where those resources are found. Renewable fuels employment issimilarly concentrated in agricultural states with 67 percent of corn
ethanol jobs in ten predominantly Midwestern states. The exception is
nuclear fuels which has the most racially diverse workforce and thehighest proportion of Hispanic or Latinx individuals (Table 28).
African Americans are underrepresented in all fuels’ sub-technologies
with their highest representation in the petroleum fuels sector—about
one point above the overall fuels average—and lowest representation incoal fuels.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 28.
Fuels Demographics by Sub-technology, 2019
Coal
Fuels

Nuclear
Fuels

NaturalGas Fuels

Petroleum
Fuels

Renewable
Fuels

National
Workforce
Demographicslxv

Fuels
Overall

Male

77%

70%

74%

76%

70%

53%

75%

Female

23%

30%

26%

24%

30%

47%

25%

Hispanicor Latinx

10%

14%

11%

13%

9%

18%

12%

90%

86%

89%

87%

91%

82%

88%

2%

1%

2%

2%

1%

1%

2%

Asian

4%

9%

4%

6%

6%

6%

5%

Black orAfricanAmerican

4%

6%

7%

8%

6%

12%

7%

NativeHawaiianor other
Pacific
Islander

0%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

White

84%

69%

76%

76%

80%

78%

77%

Two or
more
races

6%

15%

11%

8%

5%

2%

8%

Veterans

9%

9%

9%

9%

14%

6%

10%

55 and
over

25%

16%

21%

20%

20%

23%

21%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Not
Hispanicor Latinx
AmericanIndian or
AlaskaNative90

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORSTransmission, Distribution, and Storage
Trends Impacting the TDS Sector
The nation’s transmission, distribution, and storage (TDS) sector has
seen significant employment growth. TDS jobs include the construction,
operations, and maintenance of the systems that store energy anddeliver electricity and fuels from producers to end-users. They remain asizable and growing component of energy jobs in the United States,with emerging technologies in grid modernization resulting in additionaljob growth within this sector. Since 2016, traditional transmission anddistribution jobs have grown by almost eight percent—roughly 72,000
new jobs in three years (Figure 22).

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe implementation of new grid modernization technologies like smart
grids and microgrids is resulting in an employment boom in these subsectors as well. Between 2016 and 2019, smart grid and microgrid firms
added 11,800 jobs to the TDS labor force—a growth rate of more than 21
percent. In fact, grid modernization activity across the nation isincreasing in general; between 2018 and 2019, there was a 53 percent
increase in grid modernization activity, defined as policy action, utility
reform, deployment, research and development, and financial
incentives. As of 2019, the top states to take grid modernization action
include New York, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey,
Hawaii, and New Hampshire.lxvi

91

Energy storage technologies overall have seen a decline of roughly
seven percent since 2016, shedding just over 6,500 jobs. Much of thisdecline is attributable to losses in pumped hydropower storage, whichshed more than 13,000 jobs. Other storage technologies like mechanicalflywheel storage, thermal storage, compressed air, and fossil fuel andnuclear storage lost more than 11,000 jobs since 2016. Despite thesedeclines, battery storage67 technologies created jobs between 2016 and2019; this sub-technology saw a remarkable 38 percent job growth,
resulting in more than 18,000 new energy jobs and slightly offsetting
the major losses in other storage technologies.

67 Battery storage technologies include the following: lithium batteries, lead-based batteries, other solid-

electrode batteries, vanadium redox flow batteries, and other flow batteries. The battery storage subsector also includes any battery storage for solar electric power generation.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 22.
TDS Employment by Sub-technology, 2016-2019
0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

Traditional TD

Other TD

Battery Storage

Smart Grid|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTMicrogrid

92

Other Grid Modernization

Other Storage

2016
2017
2018
Pumped Hydropower

2019

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORSTDS Sector Employment & Wages
Much of the work in TDS is concentrated in construction and utilities, as
illustrated in Figure 23. In fact, construction jobs within the TDS sector
grew by 17,900 workers in 2019 alone—an increase of four percent over
12 months. The utilities sector declined slightly by 150 jobs, while TDS
wholesale trade saw jobs decline by 6,100 workers.
Figure 23.
TDS Employment by Industry, 2018-201968
498,842

Construction

480,967
417,660

Utilities

417,806
231,188

Wholesale Trade &Distribution

237,289
134,304

Professional and Business

130,269
85,469Manufacturing

84,635

2019
2018

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Other Services

93

16,183
14,921

Overall, traditional TDS provides the highest premium over thegeographically weighted median wage. At $32.24 per hour, traditional
TDS jobs support an hourly wage that is 68 percent higher than thegeographically weighted median. Grid modernization and storage jobs
also support wage premiums at a respective 34 and 24 percent (Table
29).

68 TDS Employment by Industry includes commodity flows, such as truck, rail, air, and watertransportation. This adds an additional 129,252 jobs. As such, the sum of 2019 employment in Figure 23
will be slightly higher than the sum of 2019 employment reported in Figure 22.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 29.
TDS Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019

Energy Sub-Sector

Median Hourly
Wages, 2019

Geographically Weighted
Premium/Discount fromMedian Hourly Wages

Traditional Transmission
and Distribution$ 32.24

68.2%

Grid Modernization69$ 25.40

33.7%

Storage70$ 24.36

23.8%

Table 29 highlights median hourly wages by TDS sub-technology. The wage
data is weighted by both occupational composition and industry mix withineach sub-technology to account for variability across supervisory and nonsupervisory roles as well as differences across utilities, construction,
manufacturing, trade, and professional services. The third column compares
the median hourly wages for each sub-sector to the geographically weighted
median. Since some sub-sectors are more highly concentrated in specificstates, the national median wage is weighted by the state-specific subtechnology job concentration to account for the uneven employment
distribution across the nation.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Occupational Wages & Benefits
Since 36 percent of TDS jobs are concentrated in construction, common
TDS occupations include construction-related trades such as
electricians, carpenters, and operating engineers. Another 30 percent of
TDS employees are in the utility sector and largely work with gas andelectricity distribution systems. A common occupation would include
control and valve installers and repairers. However, there is significant
occupational crossover between the construction and utility sectors of
TDS.
Two of the most common occupations within TDS have seen job losses
since 2016; the number of electrical power-line installers and repairers
declined by 7,800 jobs, while electrical and electronics repairers havedeclined by 400 workers.lxvii Power distributors and dispatchers andutility meter readers have also been on the decline since 2016, resulting
in a combined loss of 4,000 jobs.
Occupations that grew include other construction-related trades suchas electricians and construction laborers (Table 30).

69 Grid modernization encompasses both smart grid and microgrid technologies.
70 Storage technologies include pumped hydropower storage, battery storage, mechanical storage like|.

flywheels or compressed air, fossil fuel and nuclear storage, and thermal storage.

94

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 30.
TDS Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages
2019 National
MedianHourlyWages71

TDS Wage Premiumor DiscountCompared to
National Median72

Employment
Trends,2016-2019

Power Distributors
and Dispatchers
Electrical and Electronics
Repairers, Powerhouse,
Substation, and Relay
Electrical Power-Line
Installers and Repairers$ 53.87181%↓$ 43.87129%↓$ 41.27

116%↓

Meter Readers, Utilities$ 21.68

13%↓

First-Line Supervisorsof Mechanics, Installers,and Repairers$ 32.59

70%↑

Electricians$ 29.35

53%↑

Operating Engineers
and Other Construction
Equipment Operators$ 25.5934%↑

Construction Laborers$ 19.26

1%↑|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 30 depicts the median hourly wages for the typical occupations
employed within TDS. The rows highlighted in orange indicate occupations
that have declined since 2016 while those highlighted in green indicate
occupations that are growing.

95

Between 87 and 95 percent of TDS occupations in Table 31 have accessto full or partial health insurance from their employers, significantly
better than the national private sector average of 69 percent. The rangeof employer contributions to retirement plans for these occupations—73
to 89 percent—is also much higher than the national private sector
average of 67 percent.lxviii

71 The median hourly wages for these occupations are extrapolated to be specific for jobs within the TDS

sector.
72 The national occupational median hourly wage in 2019 was $19.14 according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 31.
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019
Healthcare Benefits

Retirement|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

FullPartialNo
Firmcoverage coverage coverage contribution

96

No firm
contribution

Electrical andElectronics Repairers,
Powerhouse,
Substation, and Relay

34.8%

58.9%

6.3%

86.7%

13.3%

Electrical Power-Line
Installers and Repairers

38.7%

56.0%

5.3%

87.4%

12.6%

First-Line Supervisorsof Mechanics, Installers,and Repairers

37.3%

56.7%

6.0%

89.0%

11.0%

Electricians

37.3%

51.4%

11.3%

77.9%

22.1%

Operating Engineers
and Other Construction
Equipment Operators

36.0%

53.5%

10.5%

76.5%

23.5%

Construction Laborers

35.4%

51.5%

13.1%

73.0%

27.0%

Table 31 provides an overview of healthcare and retirement benefits by
occupation. Healthcare benefits are broken out into three categories
indicating whether a firm pays all healthcare insurance costs for an employee,some but not all costs, or makes no contributions to an employee’s healthcare
insurance costs. Retirement contributions may be made to a 401k, pension, or
IRA; firms either contribute to some type of retirement plan or do not makeany contributions at all.

Geographic Variability
Job gains in the traditional transmission and distribution sub-sector
sector were largely concentrated across the following states: West
Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Texas (Table 32).
Together, these five states accounted for 47 percent of all job growth intraditional transmission and distribution sub-technologies.
Only five states saw job losses in traditional transmission anddistribution, and these include Nebraska, Washington, Kansas, Missouri,
and Tennessee (Table 33).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 32.
Top 10 States with Job Growth in Traditional Transmission & Distribution
State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Growth,
2016-2019% Job Growth,
2016-2019

West Virginia

14,098

9,263

192%

Louisiana

32,1108,304

35%

Pennsylvania

33,173

7,242

28%

Oklahoma

21,442

4,509

27%

Texas

159,233

4,396

3%

California

102,656

2,691

3%

Virginia

14,4482,570

22%

New York

65,0662,506

4%Alabama

18,2902,318

15%

New Mexico

9,631

2,082

28%

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 33.
Top 5 States with Job Losses in Traditional Transmission & Distribution73
State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Losses,
2016-2019% Job Loss,
2016-2019

Nebraska

10,662(489)-4%Washington

22,218(261)-1%Kansas15,149(136)-1%Missouri

23,774(134)-1%Tennessee

20,520

(73)

-0.4%

Demographics
In general, the TDS sector has a below average representation of
women, Hispanic or Latinx workers, and Black or African Americans.
The proportion of individuals 55 years of age and over in the TDS sector
is also below the national average.
In 2019, women represented 24 percent of the TDS workforce, which is
below the national average. Seventeen percent of employees wereHispanic or Latinx, just below the national workforce average, andrepresentation of Black or African American workers was also twopoints below the national average (Table 34).

|.

73 Only five states experienced job losses in the TDS sector.

97

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 34.
TDS Demographics, 201998

National Workforce
Demographicslxix

TDS Overall

Male

53%

76%

Female47%

24%

Hispanic or Latinx

18%

17%

Not Hispanic or Latinx

82%

83%

American Indian or Alaska Native

1%

2%

Asian

6%

9%

Black or African American

12%

10%

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

1%

1%

White

78%

69%

Two or more races

2%

9%

Veterans

6%8%

55 and over

23%

18%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Energy Efficiency
Trends Impacting the Energy Efficiency Sector
Energy efficiency employment covers both the production andinstallation of energy-saving products and the provision ofservices that reduce end-use energy consumption. These jobs
include the manufacture of ENERGY STAR®-labeled products, aswell as building design and contracting services that provide
insulation, improve natural lighting, and reduce overall energy
consumption across homes and businesses.74

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe energy efficiency sector is the fastest growing technology sector
within the USEER survey, adding just over 400,000 new jobs in three
years. Traditional HVAC work and ENERGY STAR appliances (including
high efficiency HVAC) have grown the most, adding 77,800 and 56,300
new energy efficiency workers respectively in the last three years.
Efficient lighting jobs have also grown at a rate of 16 percent, or roughly
52,500 jobs, while renewable heating and cooling saw jobs grow by
13,500 workers and advanced and recycled building materials added
3,700 new jobs (Figure 24).

74 2020 USEER. Estimates do not include retail employment. ENERGY STAR® is a registered trademark of|.

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

99

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 24.
Energy Efficiency Employment by Sub-Technology, 2016-2019
0

200,000

400,000

600,000

ENERGY STAR Appliances

Traditional HVAC

Advanced and Recycled Building Materials

Efficient Lighting

Other
2016
2017
2018

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Renewable Heating and Cooling

100

2019

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Energy Efficiency Sector Employment & Wages
A majority of the work in the energy efficiency sector—56 percent—isconcentrated in the construction industry, followed by professional andbusiness services (Figure 25). Overall, the sector supports wages thatare roughly 23 to 26 percent above the geographically weighted
median wage (Table 35). There is less variability in energy efficiency
sub-technologies compared to EPG as much of the work is similar andconcentrated in the deployment—installation, maintenance, or repair—ofenergy efficiency goods and services.
Figure 25.
Energy Efficiency Employment by Industry, 2018-2019

1,323,444

Construction

1,295,783

499,261

Professional and Business

484,482

325,255

Manufacturing

321,582

Wholesale Trade

186,824
180,337

2019
2018

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Other Services

101

44,10842,682

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 35.
Energy Efficiency Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019
Energy Sub-Sector

Median Hourly
Wages, 2019

Geographically Weighted
Premium/Discount fromMedian Hourly Wages

ENERGY STAR Appliances$ 24.63

25.3%

Renewable Heating and Cooling$ 24.91

26.4%

Efficient Lighting$ 24.2123.1%

Traditional andHigh Efficiency HVAC

$ 24.43

22.8%

Table 35 highlights median hourly wages by energy efficiency subtechnology. The wage data is weighted by both occupational composition
and industry mix within each sub-technology to account for variability acrosssupervisory and non-supervisory roles as well as differences across utilities,
construction, manufacturing, trade, and professional services. The thirdcolumn compares the median hourly wages for each sub-sector to thegeographically weighted median. Since some sub-sectors are more highly
concentrated in specific states, the national median wage is weighted by thestate-specific sub-technology job concentration to account for the uneven
employment distribution across the nation.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Occupational Wages & Benefits

102

In general, nearly all construction workers who are engaged in energy
efficiency work, with the exception of construction laborers andinsulation workers, earn a premium over both the national median wage
and the overall median wage for all construction and extraction
occupations. For non-supervisory roles, these wage premiums range
from two to 55 percent. Construction laborers and insulation workers
have lower requirements compared to carpenters, HVAC mechanics,
plumbers, and electricians, which typically require apprenticeships,
licensing, nationally-accredited and manufacturer-specific certifications.
When taking construction laborers and insulation workers out, the wage
premium range is smaller, from 34 to 55 percent.
Supervisory roles, such as managers and first-line supervisors, earn ahigher premium than that earned by other construction trades in theenergy efficiency sector, such as carpenters, laborers, electricians,
HVAC mechanics, insulation workers, or plumbers and pipefitters (Table
36).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Table 36.
Energy Efficiency Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages
2019
National
MedianHourlyWages75

Energy Efficiency
Wage Premium or
DiscountCompared to
National Median76

Energy Efficiency
Wage PremiumCompared toWeighted
Construction
Median77

Construction Managers$ 45.97140%

98%

First-Line Supervisorsof Construction Trades
and Extraction Workers$ 31.47

64%

35%

Electricians$ 29.76

55%

28%

Plumbers, Pipefitters,
and Steamfitters$ 29.22

53%

26%

Heating, Air Conditioning,
and Refrigeration
Mechanics and Installers$ 28.32

48%

22%

Carpenters$ 25.60

34%

10%Insulation Workers,
Floor, Ceiling, and Wall

$ 21.3812%-8%Construction Laborers$ 19.52

2%

-16%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 36 depicts the median hourly wages for the typical occupations
employed within Energy Efficiency.

103

75 The median hourly wages for these occupations are extrapolated to be specific to jobs within theenergy efficiency sector.
76 The national occupational median hourly wage in 2019 was $19.14 according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019).
77 The median hourly wage for Construction and Extraction Occupations was $22.80 according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019). When weighted according to
the number of jobs in each specific occupation code, the weighted median comes out to $23.23.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Access to employer-paid healthcare benefits fluctuate in occupations in
the energy efficiency sector from a high of 87 percent for construction
managers to 74 percent for electricians and 65 percent for carpenters.
Most occupations are above the national private sector average of 69
percent.lxx Employer contributions to retirement programs fluctuateeven more by occupation from a high of 80 percent to a low of 55
percent (Table 37).
Table 37.
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Healthcare Benefits

104

Retirement

Fullcoverage

PartialcoverageNocoverage

Firm
contribution

No firm
contribution

Construction
Managers

36.6%

49.9%

13.6%

79.9%

20.1%

First-Line Supervisorsof Construction
Trades andExtraction Workers

37.0%

48.3%

14.7%

76.3%

23.7%

Electricians

29.3%

44.9%

25.8%

62.3%

37.7%

Plumbers, Pipefitters,
and Steamfitters

31.9%

45.8%

22.3%

67.3%

32.7%

Heating, Air
Conditioning,
and Refrigeration
Mechanics andInstallers

26.5%

47.8%

25.6%

60.1%

39.9%

Carpenters

18.8%

46.6%

34.6%

54.6%

45.4%

Insulation Workers,
Floor, Ceiling,and Wall

23.6%

56.0%

20.4%

68.9%

31.1%

Construction
Laborers

26.1%

52.5%

21.4%

66.4%

33.6%

Table 37 provides an overview of healthcare and retirement benefits by
occupation. Healthcare benefits are broken out into three categories
indicating whether a firm pays all healthcare insurance costs for an employee,some but not all costs, or makes no contributions to an employee’s healthcare
insurance costs. Retirement contributions may be made to a 401k, pension, or
IRA; firms either contribute to some type of retirement plan or do not makeany contributions at all.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Geographic Variability
Energy efficiency jobs are found across 99.8 percent of all counties in
the United States. The largest gains in energy efficiency employment
were in Texas, California, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania (Table
38). In total, these five states accounted for 43 percent of all job growthwithin the sector from 2016 through 2019.
States with the lowest energy efficiency job growth include Vermont,
Alaska, Delaware, and Wyoming. Michigan was the only state in the U.S.
that had job losses from 2016 through 2019; over this time period, thestate shed almost 1,700 energy efficiency jobs for a decline of two
percent.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 38.
Top 10 States with Job Growth in Energy Efficiency

105

State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Growth,
2016-2019% Job Growth,
2016-2019

Texas

169,398

22,67615%

California

323,529

22,181

7%

New York

126,739

16,157

15%

Florida123,560

14,89014%

Pennsylvania

71,4439,012

14%

Massachusetts

88,231

7,858

10%Illinois

91,024

7,037

8%

North Carolina

88,0017,030

9%Colorado

36,092

6,336

21%

New Jersey

37,982

6,304

20%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Demographics
In 2019, women represented 25 percent of the workforce in the energy
efficiency sector, which is significantly lower than the national average.
Similarly, the proportion of Hispanic or Latinx and Black or African
American individuals was below the national average
The proportion of Black or African American individuals in the energy
efficiency workforce was four points below the national average while
the proportion of Hispanic or Latinx individuals in the energy efficiency
workforce was three points below the national average (Table 39).

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 39.
Energy Efficiency Demographics, 2019106

National Workforce
Demographicslxxi

Energy Efficiency
Overall

Male

53%

75%

Female47%

25%

Hispanic or Latinx

18%

15%

Not Hispanic or Latinx

82%

85%

American Indian or Alaska Native

1%

1%

Asian

6%

6%

Black or African American

12%

8%

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

1%

1%

White

78%

77%

Two or more races

2%

7%

Veterans

6%9%55 and over

23%

13%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Motor Vehicles
Trends Impacting the Motor Vehicles Sector
Though not considered a sector of the Traditional Energy industry, themotor vehicle and component parts sector,78 which includes cars, lightduty and heavy-duty trucks, trailers, and component parts of theforegoing, are included in this report, given both the high energy
consumption of their manufacture and their contribution to end-use
energy consumption.

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe motor vehicle sector is also a significant source of employment
within the U.S. economy, totaling almost 2.6 million workers at the endof 2019. Gasoline and diesel motor vehicles, the largest sub-sector
within the motor vehicles industry, created almost 121,000 new jobs
between 2016 and 2019. Electrified alternative transportation vehicles,
which include plug-in hybrid, electric, and hybrid vehicle technologies,
grew by just over 22 percent—roughly 44,000 new jobs in three years—
while jobs in other alternative transportation vehicles, such as natural
gas and hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, declined by more than
37,400 workers, or 61 percent (Figure 26).

107

78 Motor vehicle and component parts employers are defined as any firm that contributes to the

manufacture, wholesale distribution, transport, and repair and maintenance of gasoline, diesel, hybrid,electric, natural gas, hydrogen and fuel cell, or other vehicle technologies.

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 26.
Motor Vehicles Employment by Sub-technology, 2017-2019-

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

Gasoline and Diesel Motor Vehicles(excluding freight transport)

Other

Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Electric Vehicles

Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

Natural Gas Vehicles|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

2017

108

2018
2019
Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Vehicles

Motor Vehicles Sector Employment & Wages
Seventy-seven percent of the work within the motor vehicles sector isconcentrated in manufacturing and repair and maintenance, 39 and 38
percent, respectively. Since 2016, the nation’s motor vehicle
manufacturing industry grew by 70,900 jobs while repair andmaintenance created 42,500 new jobs over the same time frame(Figure 27).
Overall, gasoline and diesel motor vehicles and alternativetransportation sub-technologies support a wage premium that isroughly 16 to 21 percent above the geographically weighted median.
Other alternative transportation such as natural gas and hydrogen andfuel cell vehicles pay a slightly higher hourly premium at $22.84 (Table
40).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Figure 27.
Motor Vehicles Employment by Industry, 2018-2019

1,007,138
Manufacturing
1,010,598

962,687
Repair & Maintenance953,997

515,440Wholesale Trade,
Distribution, & Transport

505,3722019
71,227

2018

Professional and Business
66,415

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 40.
Motor Vehicles Hourly Wages by Sub-technology, 2019

Energy Sub-Sector

Median Hourly
Wages, 2019

Geographically Weighted
Premium/Discount fromMedian Hourly Wages

Other Alternative Transportation79$ 22.84

20.8%

Gasoline and Diesel Motor
Vehicles (excluding freighttransport)$ 22.30

17.9%

Alternative Transportation80$ 22.13

15.6%

Table 40 highlights median hourly wages by motor vehicles sub-technology.
The wage data is weighted by both occupational composition and industry
mix within each sub-technology to account for variability across supervisoryand non-supervisory roles as well as differences across utilities, construction,
manufacturing, trade, and professional services. The third column compares
the median hourly wages for each sub-sector to the geographically weighted
median. Since some sub-sectors are more highly concentrated in specificstates, the national median wage is weighted by the state-specific subtechnology job concentration to account for the uneven employment
distribution across the nation.

79 Other alternative transportation includes natural gas and hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.

|.

80 Alternative transportation includes plug-in hybrid, electric, and hybrid electric vehicle technologies.

109

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Occupational Wages & Benefits
Given that motor vehicle employment is concentrated in manufacturing,
repair and maintenance, and wholesale trade, the most common
occupations found within the sector include production, repair, andsales positions. As shown in Table 41, sales representatives within the
motor vehicle sector earn the highest wage premium—104 percent
above the national median, or $39.11; this is followed by supervisory
positions of production workers.
Automotive repair technicians and mechanics earn a premium that is six
to nine percent above the national median. Meanwhile, assemblers andfabricators within the motor vehicles industry have a discount of 16
percent below the national median wage. This is not surprising, as themedian hourly wage for assemblers and fabricators overall sits at $16.21,
which is six percent lower than the median wage for all productionrelated occupations.lxxii|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 41.
Motor Vehicles Occupations, 2019 Median Hourly Wages

110

2019 National Median
Hourly Wages81

Fuels Wage Premium
Above National Median82

Sales Representatives,
Wholesale andManufacturing$ 38.82

103%

First-Line Supervisors of
Production and Operating
Workers$ 28.87

51%

Welders, Cutters,
Solderers, and Brazers$ 22.04

15%

Automotive Body and
Related Repairers$ 20.95

9%

Automotive Service
Technicians andMechanics$ 20.24

6%

Assemblers andFabricators$ 16.13-16%

Table 41 depicts the median hourly wages for the typical occupations
employed within motor vehicles.

81 The median hourly wages for Automotive Body and Related Repairers and Automotive Service

Technicians and Mechanics are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment
Statistics (May 2019), as these jobs fall entirely within the motor vehicles sector. For the remaining nonMotor Vehicle specific occupations such as sales representatives, supervisors, assemblers and fabricators,
or welders, these wages are extrapolated and specific to workers within the motor vehicles sector.
82 The national occupational median hourly wage in 2019 was $19.14 according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2019).

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Access to employer-subsidized health care in motor vehicle
occupations ranges between 86 and 91 percent, significantly above thenational private sector average of 69 percent.lxxiii Employer
contributions to retirement programs range from over 85 percent forassemblers and fabricators to 67 percent for automotive service
technicians and mechanics. The national private sector average is 67
percent (Table 42).lxxiv
Table 42.
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits by Occupation, 2019
Healthcare Benefits|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Fullcoverage

111

Retirement

PartialNo
Firmcoverage coverage contribution

No firm
contribution

Sales Representatives,
Wholesale andManufacturing

32.3%

56.9%

10.8%

81.5%

18.5%

First-Line Supervisorsof Production andOperating Workers

34.0%

57.0%

9.0%

85.4%

14.6%

Welders, Cutters,
Solderers, and Brazers

40.0%

47.5%

12.5%

84.7%

15.3%

Automotive Body and
Related Repairers

21.8%

65.6%

12.6%

71.2%

28.8%

Automotive Service
Technicians andMechanics

25.0%

63.4%

11.6%

66.9%

33.1%

Assemblers andFabricators

35.6%

50.5%

13.8%

85.7%

14.3%

Table 42 provides an overview of healthcare and retirement benefits by
occupation. Healthcare benefits are broken out into three categories
indicating whether a firm pays all healthcare insurance costs for an employee,some but not all costs, or makes no contributions to an employee’s healthcare
insurance costs. Retirement contributions may be made to a 401k, pension, or
IRA; firms either contribute to some type of retirement plan or do not makeany contributions at all.

Geographic Variability
Overall, California, Texas, and Michigan had the greatest growth in total
motor vehicle employment from 2016 through 2019 (Table 43), while
Iowa, Vermont, and Kansas saw the greatest declines (Table 44). The
most significant growth in gasoline and diesel motor vehicle
employment between 2016 and 2019 was in Michigan, which
experienced a growth of 15,400 new jobs over three years. This is not
surprising, as the state is a hub for automotive manufacturing. In fact,
the state is home to more than 1,600 automotive manufacturing
establishments. In 2017 alone, the state produced two million cars.lxxv
Over the same time period, Indiana added almost 9,000 traditional
gasoline and diesel motor vehicle jobs while Ohio lost just over 6,000
gasoline and diesel motor vehicle jobs.
Meanwhile, California saw the greatest growth in alternativetransportation employment. Between 2016 and 2019, the state added

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
19,500 new jobs, followed by Massachusetts with 1,800 new alternativetransportation jobs.
Table 43.
Top 10 States with Job Growth in Motor Vehicles
State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Growth,
2016-2019% Job Growth,
2016-2019

California

220,719

22,59811%

Texas

182,695

16,65910%

Michigan

247,682

13,8406%

Indiana

169,677

13,724

9%South Carolina

61,4469,976

19%

Georgia

78,412

9,224

13%

Tennessee

103,6316,575

7%

Florida94,5815,980

7%Virginia

55,061

5,898

12%

Massachusetts

31,533

4,720

18%

|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 44.
Top 10 States with Job Losses in Motor Vehicles

112

State

Total Jobs, 2019

Total Job Losses,
2016-2019% Job Loss,
2016-2019

Iowa

31,139(6,129)-16%

Vermont

3,683(2,977)-45%

Kansas19,495(2,204)-10%

New Mexico

7,842(1,990)

-20%

Ohio

168,060(1,951)-1%

Wyoming

3,166(1,279)-29%

North Dakota

7,890(1,208)-13%

Pennsylvania

80,130(1,141)-1%

West Virginia

9,000(1,139)-11%

Alaska2,334(1,125)-33%

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

Demographics
In 2019, women represented 23 percent of all employees in the motor
vehicles sector. In terms of race and ethnicity, the motor vehicles sector
is as equally diverse as the U.S. workforce. While Black or African
American workers are underrepresented in the industry as a whole(eight percent) they make up a larger proportion of its manufacturingsector (17 percent). Hispanic or Latinx workers represent 10 percent of
the motor vehicle manufacturing labor force, while women comprise 24
percent.
Within the automotive repair and maintenance industry, women only
account for 10 percent of workers, while Black or African American
workers were seven percent—five points below the national average.
However, Hispanic or Latinx workers are more highly represented in
automotive repair and maintenance at almost 25 percent of theworkforce (Table 45).lxxvi|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Table 45.
Motor Vehicle Demographics, 2019113

National Workforce
Demographicslxxvii

Motor Vehicles
Overall

Male

53%

77%

Female47%

23%

Hispanic or Latinx

18%

17%

Not Hispanic or Latinx

82%

83%

American Indian or Alaska Native

1%

2%

Asian

6%

5%

Black or African American

12%

8%

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

1%

1%

White

78%

77%

Two or more races

2%

8%

Veterans

6%9%55 and over

23%

19%

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

Appendix A
Energy Wages by State|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTThe following table provides energy wages by state, both overall andfor each major energy technology sector. Due to data availability, stateenergy wages are derived using a different methodology from thenational energy wages presented throughout the report. As such,caution is advised when making direct comparisons in state wage dataand national-level data. The methodology for state energy wages uses
an occupational lens, while the wages used in the report take anindustry approach. BW Research has tied the wages using theoccupational methodology to the national industry wages in order toprovide more consistent results.

114

Electric
Power
Generation

Transmission,
Distribution,and Storage

EnergyEfficiency

Fuels

Motor
VehiclesOverall

Alabama$24.56$28.96$21.93$22.37$20.78$23.49

Alaska$29.99$35.13$26.84$26.89$25.74$28.87

Arizona$24.87$29.24$22.51$22.88$21.23$24.14

Arkansas$21.45$25.07$19.63$20.11$18.79$21.03

California$29.85$35.39$26.89$26.93$25.36$28.91

Colorado$28.38$33.47$25.60$26.01$23.72$27.51Connecticut$31.01$36.44$27.82$28.08$25.71$29.36

Delaware$28.28$33.45$25.51$25.96$23.39$26.90DC$34.81$41.05$30.92$31.50$28.47$32.90Florida$23.60$27.78$21.27$21.48$19.97$22.70Georgia$24.87$29.27$22.35$22.75$20.80$23.68

Hawaii$28.48$33.36$25.55$25.31$24.24$27.74Idaho$22.99$26.92$20.79$21.12$19.78$22.35

Illinois$27.68$32.46$25.14$24.80$23.87$26.66

Indiana$24.38$28.54$22.33$22.70$21.21$23.37Iowa$24.87$29.12$22.68$22.84$21.58$24.09Kansas$24.51$28.64$22.15$22.54$21.00$23.96

Kentucky$23.39$27.34$21.28$21.66$20.49$22.57

Louisiana$24.67$29.12$22.11$22.48$21.61$24.11Maine$24.64$28.82$22.53$22.90$21.43$23.84Maryland$28.80$33.96$25.83$26.34$23.72$27.23Massachusetts$30.65$35.95$27.83$27.79$25.40$29.50Michigan$26.23$30.75$23.58$23.77$22.32$24.69|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTWAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

115

Electric
Power
Generation

Transmission,
Distribution,and Storage

EnergyEfficiency

Fuels

Motor
VehiclesOverall

Minnesota$28.13$33.00$25.73$25.86$23.93$27.22

Mississippi$21.87$25.58$19.66$19.99$19.15$21.15

Missouri$24.92$29.17$22.72$22.82$21.47$23.97Montana$23.92$28.00$21.66$21.94$21.15$23.46

Nebraska$24.10$28.31$21.99$22.26$21.12$23.72

Nevada$26.15$30.74$23.23$23.54$22.42$25.88

New
Hampshire$27.15$31.94$24.63$24.84$23.01$26.13

New Jersey$30.71$36.21$27.64$27.97$25.15$29.34

New Mexico$24.25$28.63$21.94$22.38$21.10$23.91

New York$30.39$35.75$27.30$27.45$24.93$29.16

North Carolina$25.69$30.22$23.12$23.58$21.16$24.20

North Dakota$26.30$30.67$23.63$24.17$22.72$25.61

Ohio$25.43$29.83$23.14$23.38$21.91$24.36

Oklahoma$23.90$28.06$21.58$21.97$20.78$23.29Oregon$26.73$31.30$24.23$24.28$22.99$25.69Pennsylvania$26.83$31.50$24.28$24.47$22.61$25.69Rhode Island$29.61$34.88$26.88$27.17$24.34$28.07

South Carolina$23.95$28.09$21.68$22.05$20.48$23.04South Dakota$24.61$28.85$22.19$22.68$20.76$23.51Tennessee$23.66$27.81$21.32$21.71$20.29$22.61Texas$25.83$30.54$23.37$23.72$22.05$25.15Utah$24.10$28.29$21.73$22.03$20.91$23.13

Vermont$24.79$28.82$22.46$22.71$21.27$23.81

Virginia$28.23$33.27$25.35$25.95$22.92$26.59Washington$30.39$35.88$27.33$27.30$25.60$29.22

West Virginia$22.89$26.86$20.84$21.41$19.95$22.72

Wisconsin$26.06$30.58$23.88$24.13$22.50$25.09Wyoming$26.74$31.22$24.23$24.67$24.14$26.20U.S.

$27.19$31.25$24.44$23.89$22.29$25.60WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE

References|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTi National employment estimates are from the116

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages. Energy employment
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viii U.S. Energy Information Administration. Table
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xii For more information on the geographic
distribution of energy jobs see generally: 2020
U.S. Energy and Employment Report and State
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xiii U.S. Energy Information Administration. Table
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xiv 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Five-Year
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xix

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xxxi Id.
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https://www.downstreamstrategies.com/docume

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT

lii Wagman, David. Automation is Engineering the117

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xxxv Id.
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xliii National median hourly wages are from the
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https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrci.htm.
xliv Id.
xlv Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population
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xlix U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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l Emsi Q3 2020, Occupational Staffing Pattern
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lix U.S. Energy Information Administration. Table
1.2 Primary Energy Production by Source, 2000 –2018.
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tbl=T01.02#/?f=A&start=1949&end=2018&charted=1-2-3-4-6-13.
lx U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S.
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assed%20Russia,world's%20largest%20producer%
20of%20petroleum.
lxi U.S. Energy Information Administration. Table
1.2 Primary Energy Production by Source, 2000 –2018.
https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/browser/?
tbl=T01.02#/?f=A&start=1949&end=2018&charted=1-2-3-4-6-13.
lxii Emsi Q3 2020.
lxiii U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S.
uranium production in 2018 was the lowest in
nearly 70 years. May 2019.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39352#:~:text=Uranium%20production%20in%20
the%20United,for%20more%20than%2020%20yea
rs.&text=The%20production%20of%20uranium%20concentrate,the%20nuclear%20fuel%20producti
on%20process.
lxiv Emsi Q3 2020.
lxv National workforce demographic information inthis table and subsequent demographic tables inthis report are from the 2019 Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Current Population Survey.
https://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm.
lxvi NC Clean Energy Technology Center. 50 Statesof Grid Modernization, Q1 2019 Quarterly Report,
May 2019.
lxvii Emsi Q4 2020.

WAGES, BENEFITS, AND CHANGE
lxxiii Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Benefits
lxviii Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Benefits|.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORTin the United States, March 2019.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf.
lxix National workforce demographic information inthis table and subsequent demographic tables inthis report are from the 2019 Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Current Population Survey.
https://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm.
lxx Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Benefits in
the United States, March 2019.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf.
lxxi National workforce demographic information inthis table and subsequent demographic tables inthis report are from the 2019 Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Current Population Survey.
https://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm.
lxxii Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational
Employment Statistics, May 2019.

118

in the United States, March 2019.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf.
lxxiv Id.
lxxv Detroit Regional Chamber.
https://www.detroitchamber.com/econdev/chamber-initiatives/michauto-universal-name/the-autoindustry-in-michigan/.
lxxvi U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force
Statistics from the Current Population Survey,
2019. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm.
lxxvii National workforce demographic informationin this table and subsequent demographic tablesin this report are from the 2019 Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Current Population Survey.
https://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm.