E2 emphasised that its figures reveal not just a slowdown in the recent jobs boom in US clean energy subsectors such as solar, but a reversal of the trend seen in recent years of growing numbers. Last year’s drop in clean energy jobs was the first since the Covid pandemic in 2020, since when the clean energy workforce has increased significantly year-on-year.

Although the clean energy workforce is still 16% higher than 2020 levels, E2 said the sector’s run of adding 100,000 jobs “appears to be over”.

“America’s clean energy jobs boom didn’t just slow in 2025—it went into reverse. After four consecutive years of strong growth, the industry lost nearly 37,000 jobs—its first decline since the pandemic,” said Michael Timberlake, director of research for E2.

E2 said its analysis of Department of Energy data reflected the impacts of last year’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which sought to roll back some of the tax incentives for clean energy deployment and manufacturing brought in under Joe Biden’s presidency.

E2 said the figures also echoed wider job losses in the US energy sector, whose total workforce fell by 86,000.

The organisation said clean vehicles recorded the largest percentage decline -2.4%, followed by renewable generation (-2.0%) and energy efficiency (0.9%). Energy storage and grid modernisation fared better, with jobs growing by 3%.

The losses were felt across 35 US states, but California recorded the largest drop in clean energy jobs of -3.7%. Florida saw an increase of 2.1%.

“These numbers paint a clear picture of what is happening after a year of project cancellations and federal policy attacks.

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