US Clean Energy Loses 37,000 Jobs in First Decline Since 2021

The United States clean energy sector shed nearly 37,000 jobs in 2025, its first year-on-year decline in four years, according to an E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs) analysis of federal data published by Canary Media. Total employment stood at 3.52 million by year’s end — a drop of roughly one percent that nonetheless erased about 40 percent of the gains recorded the previous year.

The retreat coincided with a sweeping pullback of federal support. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cancelled renewable energy tax incentives that had been set to run for another decade, scrapped subsidies for electric vehicles and home electrification, and left communities without billions in funding allocated for clean generation and energy efficiency programs after the government blocked or withdrew those resources.

The clean transport sector recorded the steepest proportional loss: 9,619 positions — a 2.4 percent decline — following the early cancellation of EV subsidies in September 2025. Many factories that had been producing batteries for vehicles pivoted to manufacturing grid storage systems instead. Energy efficiency suffered the largest absolute contraction, losing 21,443 jobs.

Battery storage and grid modernization were the sector’s standout performers, growing employment by 3.2 percent as federal tax incentives in those segments remained in place.

The available data cannot separate losses caused by the new policy environment from those driven by a broader market slowdown, since overall US energy employment also declined. The long-term risk will be determined by the fate of nearly 150 manufacturing, generation, and storage projects that were cancelled or significantly scaled back — ventures that had been expected to create close to 85,000 new jobs.

Source: Canary Media