How the U.S. demand for power could fuel the renewables job market
By William V. Liuzza
For the last two decades, electricity use in the United States has been relatively flat, hovering between 3800 and 4000 terrawatt hours annually. However, energy experts warn that this stability is about to rupture. The transition away from fossil fuels to power buildings and transportation, the intensity of climate, and the surging needs from data centers servicing the rapid evolution of AI computing are all demanding energy that we won’t be able to produce or import quickly enough without drastic changes.
Just try to visualize it—the nation’s energy grid is not prepared to churn at constant peak power with 24/7/365 data centers running across the country!
We can expect the incoming administration to address energy within the first 100 days in office. While policy may differ among the major U.S. political parties, neither party can deny the vital need for energy in the U.S. While both parties have implemented taxes on imported goods, President Donald Trump says he’ll immediately increase import tariffs, including Mexico and Canada, and scale back climate law. He’s also said that wind and solar “don’t work.”
But despite the partisanship and political forces surrounding our industry, renewable energy is too big to fail. About 53 percent of new electricity-generating capacity last year came from solar energy, and the utility-scale solar segment has increased 77 percent over 2022. Republican states are producing more wind energy than Democratic ones, and the majority of the new domestic solar manufacturing facilities are located in red states.
Instead of denouncing renewable energy, the President could unlock the potential in renewable domestic manufacturing left untapped from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and double down on the commitment to new sources of energy production. Job creation, domestic manufacturing, and energy independence would deliver a winning formula for all politicians (and all Americans!) to get behind.
Since its inception in 2022, the IRA has greatly incentivized manufacturers to set up production plants in the U.S.—project developers currently prioritize domestic products to receive those added incentives. With the IRA in place, the U.S. now has over 300 manufacturing plants in operation—or scheduled to open—that service the renewable energy supply chain, signifying a $120 billion investment in our economy.
In year 10 of the IRA (2032), projections chart $1.9 trillion economic growth and the creation of 3.5 million jobs. Given the current job market, we are inching towards this milestone, but need to overcome obstacles to fully achieve it. At EnergeiaWorks, a search firm exclusively focused on renewable energy, we saw a major increase in U.S. manufacturing hires over the past two years, likely due to IRA provisions. In fact, for the first time in our 14-year history, the majority of our revenue came from placements in domestic manufacturing, rather than project development or installation.
The U.S. labor market grew two percent over the last two years in a very strong jobs economy, while the renewable energy job market increased 4.2 percent over 2022 and 3.8 percent in 2022 over 2021. Not only has the renewable energy job market been growing twice as fast as most industries in the U.S., it’s becoming younger and more diverse, including a much higher percentage of veterans.
Even with this demonstrated progress, the renewables workforce should be tracking closer to a 10 percent annual increase given the IRA incentives. But we experienced major headwinds over these last two years. First, the Federal Reserve interest rate has made the cost of capital more expensive for all infrastructure projects. Second, queues for grid access are stalled across the country, leaving 1086 GW of solar plants and 500 GW of standalone energy storage facilities awaiting transmission interconnection. Also, environmental permitting for large solar and wind projects takes years to approve. President Trump has promised to expedite permitting for national energy projects, so let’s hope he doesn’t exclude renewables.
If we can clear these major hurdles, and work with a cooperative administration who understands the seemingly obvious connection between our need for energy and our need for employment, I’m confident that we can more efficiently and quickly realize the full vision of the IRA. Looking above and beyond our political divide, renewables can fuel the thirst for energy in America, and create millions of well-paying jobs.
William V. Liuzza is Founder & CEO of EnergeiaWorks (www.energeiaworks.com). With 25 years of experience, Liuzza has a track record as one of the most successful and effective recruiters in the renewable energy sector. Liuzza began his recruiting career in 1994 while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, and later joined J. Patrick & Associates in New York City as a Managing Partner. He founded EnergeiaWorks in 2010 to meet the growing demand for highly-specialized experts in the fast-growing clean tech and renewable energy markets. Liuzza and his team have helped over 350 renewable energy companies find top talent around the world.
Q1 2025
