Advanced Energy Industry Employs 143,000 workers in Texas, More Than Chemical Manufacturing and Petroleum Refining, 2X Airlines — and Expected to Increase 7% This Year
Employment in Texas’s advanced energy industry stands at an estimated 143,023 workers. That’s more people than are employed in chemical manufacturing and petroleum refining, twice as many as employed by airlines, and nearly as many working in building construction in the Lone Star State. Employers engaged in advanced energy business expect to increase their workforce by 7% this year, which would bring Texas’s advanced energy industry to over 152,000 jobs.
These are some of the findings of Advanced Energy Jobs in Texas (http://www.texasadvancedenergy.org/) a new report released today by the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance.
“Advanced energy is a large and growing industry in Texas, and it’s paying off in real jobs for Texans,” said Suzanne Bertin, Executive Director of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, a business association of advanced energy companies in Texas. “The reliability and cost benefits of advanced energy technologies are driving growth in the industry, and employers expect to add jobs in the coming year. That’s good news for our companies and for the Texas economy.”
A new Energy Employment Index, produced by BW Research Partnership, is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a detailed survey of 20,000 businesses nationwide conducted between September and November of 2015. The Index is the basis for the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s first annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report, published in March.
The report also illustrates the variety of jobs with eight profiles of Texas workers in advanced energy.
“Working in the solar industry was the number-one draw for me,” said Robyn Kenkel of Sunnova Energy Corp. in Houston, one of the workers profiled. “It’s rare that you have an opportunity to be part of something so innovative and transformational.”
Advanced Energy Jobs in Texas Report Findings:
EMPLOYEES
Advanced energy employed an estimated 143,023 Texans in 2015.
Employers surveyed expect to add an estimated 9,334 new jobs this year, an increase of almost 7%, or over 152,000.
Most jobs are in energy efficiency – 51% or about 73,000 workers.
With 39,000 workers, advanced electricity generation makes up 27%, led by wind (44% of this sector), solar (28%), advanced natural gas (16%).
Texas is also home to 9,500 workers in advanced fuels (corn ethanol).
Advanced Transportation employs 19,000 workers (13%) who spend some or all of their time on hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and natural gas vehicles.
43% of advanced energy workers are racial or ethnic minorities, 10% are Veterans.
EMPLOYERS
Texas has nearly 15,000 companies engaged in advanced energy as part or all of their business activity.
Most are small businesses (75%).
This new TAEBA jobs report follows Advanced Energy in Texas, published last year, a market report that found advanced energy represented a growing $16 billion industry in Texas.
