Policy & Practice | Winter 2024

C

lean energy is booming in the United States. Major public and private investments, plummeting technology prices, and pressure

public net- zero commitments. Meeting that demand, however, is not a given. The country is simply not moving fast enough to skill and scale the workforce required for this energy transition. Over the next few decades, the current workforce must triple in size to support everything from infrastructure growth to new machine installations. The pace at which communities and cities find, train, and put talent to work on the energy transition will affect their economic growth, their resiliency to climate events, and the health and wealth of their citizens. However, traditional recruiting and training methods will not be adequate to meet the high-volume demand for technically skilled workers within the necessary timeframe.

to reduce emissions have been driving massive job growth and surging electric vehicle, battery, and renewables produc tion. Clean energy now accounts for more than half of total U.S. private investment growth, while jobs in the industry are growing at double the rate of the overall economy. No matter who sits in the White House, the demand for the clean electrification of nearly everything will be unrelenting, driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI)- powered data center growth, millions of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road and more coming, and major corporate and

Winter 2024 Policy & Practice 21