NC’s SUSTAINABLE ENERGY COMPANIES READY TO HIRE 7,500+ NEW EMPLOYEES & START NEW PROJECTS FOLLOWING FEDERAL, STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTION

(RALEIGH, NC) – Discussions are underway in Washington, DC and Raleigh on possible legislative and regulatory action, which could expand North Carolina’s renewable energy and energy efficiency industries and create additional "green jobs" – both short-term, "shovel-ready" jobs and long-term, permanent jobs.

The $787 billion federal economic stimulus and recovery package will directly impact the sustainable energy industries and is expected to create or protect millions of jobs nationally that cannot be outsourced, double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, modernize federal buildings, make homes and schools more energy efficient, save consumers and taxpayers billions on their energy bills, and much more.

Additionally, elected officials at the federal and state levels are considering legislative actions that will reduce or remove regulatory and market barriers in North Carolina, which will also help our sustainable energy businesses hire more employees and initiate new projects during the next two years.

In an effort to show how this legislative action may impact North Carolina and her citizens, The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) surveyed renewable energy and energy efficiency companies across our state regarding their “shovel-ready” projects, which could create new “green jobs” by the end of 2010. These valuable survey results were collected in an effort to educate our state’s elected officials and key decision makers, who are currently taking steps to ensure North Carolina receives its fair share of federal economicstimulus funds and determining how the funds will be allocated.

NCSEA received 71 survey responses from companies across North Carolina, providing a representative sample of the approximately 500 companies currently employing people across North Carolina in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. This small snap-shot of the entire industry produced some big answers.

NCSEA asked companies several questions in order to capture their current size (employment), as well as the market and economic barriers to expansion they’re currently experiencing. Companies were also asked if the federal economic stimulus package is approved by the US Congress and/or if the NC Legislature took action to remove these barriers, how many new projects could be initiated before the end of 2010 and how many new jobs could be created.

Based on survey responses, NCSEA found that if state and federal legislative action occurs before July 2009, which includes passage of the federal economic stimulus package and removing current barriers, sustainable energy businesses across North Carolina could create over 7,500 new jobs in the next two years.

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Prepared for the Institute for Emerging Issues, August 2008
by Dr. Keith G. Debbage, GlaxoSmithKline Faculty Fellow, Institute for Emerging Issues and Professor of Urban Geography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro


This report looks at the spatial distribution and economic magnitude of North Carolina's renewable energy supply chain in wind, solar, biomass and geothermal and identifies companies with the technical potential to enter the renewable energy market in North Carolina.

The report finds that North Carolina's potential new energy economy supply chain is a diverse and mature sector of the state economy comprising just over 1,300 firms and employing over 61,000 workers.

Click here to view the complete report.

Report released: October 2008
Prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Mayors Climate Protection Center

Dwindling natural resources, growing global demand for energy, climate change – these issues are irrevocably altering our global economy. In this report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Global Insight have examined the economic benefits of the 'Green Economy' -that part of economic activity which is devoted to the reduction of fossil fuels, the increase of energy efficiency, and the curtailment of greenhouse gas emissions.

Global Insight has calculated the current total number of Green Jobs in the U.S. across several broad industries. These are industries that have high growth potential as the U.S. becomes a greener economy. We have also calculated potential growth under assumptions for the future of renewable electricity generation, increased energy efficiency for residential and commercial buildings, and increased usage of renewable fuels by the transportation sector. This data has been broken out at both the national and the metro level. Metropolitan economies are the engines of U.S. economic growth; if investment in green industries is to successfully transform the U.S. economy, it must happen at the metropolitan and local level.

Click here to view this report.

September 2008
Prepared for The Center for American Progress