Energy Department report finds growth in fossil, clean energy industries last year

Energy sector jobs grew 3.8 percent last year, with growth in both fossil fuels and clean energy sources. 

Clean energy jobs grew 3.9 percent, the Energy Department said in a Wednesday report, while jobs in the fossil fuel sector saw even greater growth. 

Coal fuel jobs grew 22 percent, natural gas fuel jobs grew 24 percent, and petroleum jobs grew 13 from 2021 to 2022. 

Overall, the energy sector grew by nearly 300,000 jobs, employing 7.8 million people in 2021 and more than 8.1 million in 2022. 

The energy industry’s job growth was larger than job growth generally, which increased by 3.1 percent over the same period.

Yet, the energy sector had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels as of 2022, adding 596,000 of the 840,000 jobs that were lost during the first year of the pandemic.

Biden administration officials touted the job growth, particularly of climate-friendly energy sources. 

“In addition to being proof points for the growth of the clean energy economy, this is a proof point that the president’s economic vision is working,” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters Tuesday. 

The agency counted jobs in renewable energy, nuclear energy, biofuels, electric grid technologies, electricity transmission and distribution, some energy efficiency jobs, and hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicles as part of its clean energy jobs total. 

The report said jobs in the battery electric vehicle field had the most growth overall, expanding by 27 percent from 2021 to 2022.