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The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced that New York's rapidly growing clean energy economy employed nearly 159,000 workers in 2018, according to the state's 2019 Clean Energy Industry Report. Since 2016, New York's clean energy economy saw 8.9 percent employment growth, more than double the growth of the state's overall economy. Today's announcement supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Green New Deal, the nation-leading clean energy and jobs agenda putting New York on a path to a carbon-neutral economy.

"Under Governor Cuomo, New York has staked out a clear global leadership position in advancing a plan to combat climate change and advance clean energy, and this report demonstrates that those efforts are already paying off," said NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton. "The clean energy industry is adding high-quality jobs at more than twice the rate of the overall economy, and New York is quickly beginning to outpace the rest of the country in becoming a global hub for clean technology businesses. By continuing to invest in New York's clean energy businesses and workers, the Governor is providing exactly the kind of leadership we need today to build the thriving clean energy economy of tomorrow."

The 2019 New York Clean Energy Industry Report compares data on clean energy jobs, geographic distribution, and employee needs, revealing important patterns and trends to inform policy recommendations on how to meet New York's clean energy and climate goals, help create jobs, and drive economic opportunity across the state. The report demonstrates that as a result of the state's nation-leading energy policies, New York's clean energy economy continues to drive economic development and employment growth and opportunities. Since 2016, New York's clean energy economy saw 8.9 percent employment growth–stronger growth than the state's overall economy, which grew 3.4 percent–adding more than 7,000 clean energy jobs across the state in 2018.

Key findings from this year's report include:
  • Energy Efficiency continues to be the largest clean energy technology category with 123,292 jobs, or 77 percent of all clean energy employment in New York.
  • Firms in the grid modernization and energy storage technology category grew five times faster than national employment in this sector. In 2018, employment increased by 35 percent, far exceeding last year's 8 percent growth during this time and five times greater than national employment growth of 7 percent in this sector.
  • All regions in New York are demonstrating strong clean energy workforce opportunities that are changing the lives of New Yorkers by providing good-paying jobs, cleaner air and a more sustainable environment.
  • Over 80 percent of employers who hired clean energy workers in the past year expressed difficulty in hiring in order to keep pace with the industry's growing job demands. To address the challenges employers are facing in hiring skilled workers with the proper experience and industry-specific knowledge, Governor Cuomo announced in March the launch of New York's $175 million Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) to address the needs of rapidly expanding industries including clean energy and advanced technologies. WDI builds on $27.5 million in incentives NYSERDA made available last year to assist clean energy businesses with recruiting and training new employees, upskilling existing workers, and establishing a talent pipeline to reduce businesses cost of attracting and hiring new workers.

NYSERDA's existing workforce development and training opportunities are already showing signs of success:
  • Energy Efficiency and Clean Technology Training: NYSERDA has provided $3.3 million to train over 17,000 New Yorkers in energy efficiency and clean technologies.
  • On-the-Job Training: In the last year, NYSERDA has provided over $700,000 in support to 36 energy efficiency and clean technology businesses across the state to help hire and train 106 employees in New York, including 45 from environmental justice, low-income, veteran, and formerly incarcerated populations.
  • Clean Energy Internship Program: NYSERDA has placed 129 clean energy interns at 20 New York businesses across the state. Businesses who bring on paid interns through the Clean Energy Internship Program are also eligible for on-the-job training support.
  • Building Operations and Maintenance Worker Training Program: Currently, NYSERDA is working with 36 companies, providing nearly $8 million to train over 4,600 workers, creating the talent development strategy, corporate culture, on-site training framework, and training tools needed to support building operations and maintenance workers beyond classroom training.

Additionally, NYSERDA is working closely with the Department of Labor (DOL) to host job fairs across the state to connect businesses with job seekers. In July, NYSERDA and DOL hosted their first job fair in Westchester County with more than a dozen HVAC businesses and more than 100 jobs seekers attending. A plan to hold clean energy job fairs across the state with a focus on energy efficiency, heat pumps and solar is under development and is expected to begin in this fall.

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