Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Interim CEO Stephen Pike recently announced the results of the 2015 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report, which found that the Massachusetts clean energy sector has grown by double digits for the fourth consecutive year and now employs 98,895 workers at 6,439 employers across the Commonwealth.
The report finds that clean energy employment grew by 11.9 percent between 2014 and 2015 — the largest increase of any year since MassCEC began collecting data in 2010. In total, the number of clean energy jobs in Massachusetts has increased by 64 percent since 2010.
“With steady job growth over the past five years, the Massachusetts clean energy industry is robust,” Pike said. “The clean energy sector is fueling small businesses and paying workers high wages across the state from Beverly to Pittsfield.”
The report, prepared for MassCEC by BW Research Partnership, found that clean energy is an $11 billion industry in Massachusetts and represents 2.5 percent of the Commonwealth’s gross state product. The report also found that clean energy jobs represent 3.3 percent of the overall workforce in the state with three quarters of workers earning more than $50,000 per year.
The clean energy industry is employing residents of every county in Massachusetts and has grown over the past year in each of the state’s regions, with the largest growth coming in northeastern Massachusetts (16.8 percent) and central Massachusetts (13.6 percent).
“With five years of consistent job growth, the clean energy sector is an economic engine that is putting Massachusetts on the map for global leadership in clean energy,” said Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC) President Peter Rothstein. “Private sector innovation and investment combined with public sector leadership on forward-thinking clean energy policies are continuing to prove to be a strong formula to drive the flourishing of this industry.”
As clean energy jobs have grown, so has the installation of clean energy technologies across the Commonwealth. In July, Massachusetts passed 1 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, which is enough to power more than 152,000 average Massachusetts homes annually.
“The Clean Energy Industry Report demonstrates the Commonwealth’s commitment to foster and encourage innovative ideas and technologies while creating a strong job market within the state,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Matthew Beaton. “The Commonwealth will continue to leverage the state’s robust, cutting-edge clean energy sector with Massachusetts’ world-class universities and research institutions to work to balance and diversify the state’s energy portfolio while positioning Massachusetts to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction goals.”
According to Tom Pincince, president and CEO of Digital Lumens, “clean technology has moved from being adjacent to the traditional hardware, software, and networking communities to being an integral and high-growth part of the technology landscape in Massachusetts in the last decade.”
The report also found Massachusetts to be the national leader in early-stage clean energy investment. Massachusetts companies attracted more than twice the amount of early-stage investment per capita than second-place California. Overall, public and private investment in the industry exceeded $549 million.
“Massachusetts’ forward-thinking policies have helped develop the market for highly efficient, clean energy combined heat and power within the state,” said Lee Vardakas, president of Aegis Energy Services, Inc. “We in western Massachusetts have benefited from the state’s innovative approach to clean energy and have been able to continue expanding our business with double-digit growth year-over-year. This has led to an increase in employment and has benefited the local businesses that support our manufacturing in the area.”
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report, primarily based on survey data gathered directly from clean energy employers in Massachusetts, is an in-depth breakdown of clean energy deployment, gross state product, employment, investment data and innovation, classified by technology sector, and geographic region. The report’s methodology has been replicated in the following 10 states: California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Vermont.
State energy officials announced the results of the 2015 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report at events at Groom Energy in Beverly and the South Middlesex Opportunity Council’s Green Jobs Academy in Worcester.
— Source: MassCEC
For more information,
go to www.masscec.com.
