System Operator

DOE highlights green energy jobs

One day before Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman highlights the clean energy jobs created with support from the Obama Administration, the Energy Department announced that the weatherization program under the Recovery Act has now made more than 500,000 low-income homes nationwide more energy-efficient. The weatherization program is helping families save hundreds of dollars a year on their energy bills, while employing more than 14,000 workers across the country and countless others throughout the supply chain.

The Department of Energy also today released a new video showing the positive impact that the Administration’s clean energy investments in advanced battery manufacturing have had on Michigan workers. Listen to Annette Herrera, an employee with A123 Systems, an advanced lithium-ion battery manufacturer, tell her story. The company also recently announced it has hired its 1000th clean energy employee in Michigan, many of whom were previously out of work.

“Our investments in clean energy innovation are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs around the country, developing entire industries and supply chains, and helping to make American companies to more competitive,” said Deputy Secretary Poneman. “We are in a race to capitalize on the huge economic and job growth potential of the clean energy economy. Other countries like China are already moving aggressively to develop and deploy these technologies, but with continued investments in innovation, this is a race we can win.”

Earlier this week, the solar power industry also released a new report showing the tremendous growth in solar energy jobs over the last two years, in large part because of the leadership of President Obama. The new figures from the nonprofit Solar Foundation showed that the number of workers in America’s solar energy has more than doubled – growing from 46,000 workers in 2009 to more than 100,000 today. The Solar Energy Industries Association also released a report on Tuesday that found the demand for U.S. solar energy photovoltaics grew by nearly 70 percent from the previous year.