Office of Energy Resources and Rhode Island Commerce Corporation release 2022 Clean Energy Industry Report, announces growth in green jobs

Published on Friday, June 16, 2023

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Office of Energy Resources (OER) and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation released the 2022 Rhode Island Clean Energy Industry Report today that showed an increase in sector-specific employment of almost 500 jobs – or 3.2 percent – between the last quarters of 2020 and 2021. The clean energy sector now counts 11,515 jobs in total.

“The increase of clean energy jobs in Rhode Island will support the expansion of the blue economy for years to come,” said Governor Dan McKee. “In 2022, I signed historic legislation requiring 100 percent of Rhode Island’s electricity to be offset by renewable energy by 2033. With this new legislation, in addition to the Act on Climate, these two ambitious goals will sustain the continued growth in clean energy jobs.”

“Despite the challenges of prior years, overall state-level policy support and goals point toward a continuation of strong job growth in Rhode Island’s clean energy sector,” said Acting State Energy Commissioner Chris Kearns. “Our State is committed to ensuring a clean energy future, and we expect the clean energy economy to not only return to pre-pandemic levels, but far surpass it in the years ahead.”

“Embracing clean energy is not just an environmental necessity, but a golden opportunity for economic prosperity. As we transition to a greener future, we’re unlocking boundless innovation, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable growth for generations to come,” said Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner.

Key information from the report:

*The largest increase of employment from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021 was within the energy efficiency and heating/cooling sectors. This comes after a year in which those two sectors were hit the hardest during the pandemic.

*The clean energy installation and maintenance firms increased 204 jobs – 2.6 percent.

*Clean transportation was the technology sector with the highest growth with a 28.2 percent increase – 95 new jobs.

*All together the clean energy installation, maintenance, repair, operations, and manufacturing saw an increase of 372 jobs.

Download the 2022 Clean Energy Industry Report, produced in collaboration with BW Research Partnership – at http://www.energy.ri.gov/cleanjobs/.