Net-Zero Northwest Workforce Analysis provides data on the jobs to be created or displaced if the Northwest were to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
SEATTLE– Today, the Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) released the Net-Zero Northwest Workforce analysis, a comprehensive study that offers insights into projected changes in regional energy employment if the Northwest were to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 as modeled in CETI’s NZNW Energy Pathways analysis.
The NZNW Workforce analysis provides regional policymakers, government agencies, labor organizations, clean energy advocates, and businesses direction for how employment would shift over time as the combined Northwest region—Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—moves toward attaining net-zero emissions.
“CETI conducted the NZNW Workforce analysis to understand how jobs in our region would be impacted—positively and negatively—as the Northwest embraces a net-zero economy,” said Eileen V. Quigley, CETI Executive Director. “Overall, the clean energy transition will benefit regional employment, but equitable workforce development will not happen without significant commitment and collaboration among key economic development stakeholders.”
Key study findings for the Northwest include:
Energy employment would increase along the path to a clean energy future, despite decreases in fossil fuel jobs. The job numbers in the following bullets include direct, indirect, and induced employment:
· The Electricity sector supports a 43% job growth (nearly 44,400 jobs) between 2021 and 2030, driven by increases in land-based wind, transmission, distribution, and solar.
· Despite job displacement in fossil fuel subsectors, the Fuels sector supports a 19% net increase (nearly 7,400 jobs) between 2021 and 2030. Hydrogen drives this growth, adding more than 11,000 jobs, while biofuels add more than 1,400.
· Between 2021 and 2030, the Buildings sector supports a 22% employment increase (over 32,500 jobs), driven largely by commercial HVAC and residential shell jobs. In fact, all Buildings subsectors are projected to grow as energy efficiency and building electrification and decarbonization efforts ramp up.
· Employment supported by the Transportation sector increases by almost 1% (approximately 2,000 net jobs) between 2021 and 2030, reflecting decreased employment in conventional fueling stations and, to a lesser extent, vehicle manufacturing, along with net growth in vehicle maintenance, wholesale trade parts, and charging stations.
· For all sectors, it will be critical to promote strategies such as labor union pathways, prevailing wage requirements, apprenticeships, training programs, and project labor agreements to ensure job quality is a priority in the transition to a clean energy economy.
See Northwest Stands to Gain Jobs with Clean Energy Transition for additional detail.
BW Research Partnership (BW Research), a national applied research firm that analyzes economic and workforce data, developed the technical analysis for this study. BW Research used data from Evolved Energy Research’s NZNW Energy Pathways analysis to estimate the impact on construction and operations employment in the electricity, fuels, buildings, and transportation sectors in a net-zero future.
“As momentum toward a clean energy future accelerates, accurate and detailed economic data are necessary to enable public and private sector leaders to make informed investment decisions,” said Phil Jordan, BW Research Vice President. “CETI’s report includes timely and rigorous analyses that reflect new federal and state policies, and demonstrate key pathways to maximize job creation, catalyze new businesses, and increase wages throughout the Northwest."
Career Connect Washington through its sector lead, the CleanTech Alliance, provided partial support for the NZNW Workforce analysis.
“The CleanTech/Energy sector is poised for transformation and growth over the next decade,” observed Maud Daudon, Executive Leader of Career Connect Washington. “This CETI report investigates the job types in subsectors of the economy that will be needed, which is directly relevant to Career Connect Washington’s focus on implementing work- and education-connected pathways into great jobs across the state.”
“CETI’s NZNW Workforce analysis provides valuable data to guide the CleanTech Alliance’s efforts to facilitate creation and growth of cleantech companies and jobs,” said Mel Clark, President and CEO of the CleanTech Alliance. “We are excited to use these findings to shape efforts to maximize clean energy employment in the Northwest.”
“The NZNW Workforce analysis marks the completion of CETI’s modeling and research project designed to understand the impact of achieving net-zero emissions on regional energy, health, and employment,” said Ruby Moore-Bloom, CETI Research Analyst and lead author of the NZNW Workforce analysis. “Stakeholders now have a clearer picture of where to focus workforce development efforts in the coming decade to support growing clean energy jobs and mitigate the jobs that will be changed or lost as this transition unfolds.”
Visit https://www.nznw.org to review the full findings of Net-Zero Northwest study, including Energy Pathways, Health Impacts and Workforce analyses.
About the Clean Energy Transition Institute
The Clean Energy Transition Institute is an independent, nonprofit research organization that provides rigorous analysis, frames trade-offs, and convenes stakeholders to accelerate an equitable clean energy transition across the Northwest.
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