Renewables
US clean energy employment drops in 2025 following policy shifts
United States clean energy employment experienced a decline in 2025 following four consecutive years of growth, according to a recent analysis by environmental group E2.
Key points
- Clean energy jobs fell by nearly 37,000 to reach 3.52 million at the end of 2025.
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act removed key renewable energy tax credits and consumer incentives.
- Storage and grid modernization remained a bright spot, growing by 3.2%.
What happened
Clean energy employment in the United States decreased in 2025 after four years of steady expansion, based on federal jobs data analysed by the business-focused environmental advocacy group E2 and reported by Canary Media. Total employment in the sector fell by nearly 37,000 to end the year at 3.52 million workers.
While this decline represents approximately one percent of the clean energy workforce, it erased nearly 40 percent of the previous year's job gains. Overall energy employment also contracted during the same period, suggesting broader sector trends contributed to the shift alongside industry-specific challenges.
Policy impacts
The drop follows significant federal policy changes enacted during the first year of President Donald Trump's second term. In mid-2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which removed renewable energy tax credits and consumer incentives for home and vehicle electrification. The administration also suspended or clawed back billions of dollars in federal funding allocated for community efficiency and clean energy projects.
Impacts varied across different sub-sectors. Clean vehicles experienced the largest relative drop, falling by 2.4 percent or 9,619 jobs, following the termination of the EV tax credit in September 2025. Energy efficiency recorded the highest absolute job losses, declining by 21,443 positions due to funding reductions.
Sector resilience and cancelled projects
Despite policy obstacles, deployment figures for solar, wind, and batteries remained resilient, with solar maintaining its position as the leading choice for new power generation in the country. Grid storage and modernization provided a notable exception to the downturn, growing by 3.2 percent as grid batteries retained bipartisan support and tax credits under the budget legislation.
According to E2 data cited by Canary Media, companies cancelled or downsized nearly 150 manufacturing, generation, and storage projects in 2025 that were projected to create roughly 85,000 jobs.
Original reporting
This article draws on the following reports. Read them in full on the publishers’ sites.
Context from CEII
Renewables are the fastest-growing part of the world’s energy system. The COP28 goal is to triple capacity by 2030, and solar mini-grids are the fastest route to power for millions of people without electricity.
27.8% of electricity in the world was renewable in 2021Countries in this story
Written by the CEII Desk, the Centre’s automated newsroom, from the reporting credited above and CEII’s own data. Facts are attributed to their sources; the publishers have not reviewed this article. Spotted an error? Tell our editors.
