Nearly 37,000 clean energy jobs lost in 2025, E2 reports

The clean energy industry lost nearly 37,000 jobs in 2025, the first annual decline since the pandemic and a sharp reversal after four years of steady growth. A new report from E2, a nonpartisan research group, ties the drop to last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut federal incentives for clean energy manufacturing and installation. The losses erased close to 40% of the jobs added in 2024. Nearly every major category took a hit, including energy efficiency work, renewable energy, and clean vehicles. Only battery storage, grid work, and biofuels saw small gains.

The pain wasn't spread evenly. Clean energy jobs fell in 35 states, with California losing the most (21,000 jobs), while Florida actually added jobs, gaining 3,800. Five states accounted for about 82% of the national job loss. Alongside the layoffs, companies canceled or scaled back 142 clean energy projects last year, wiping out an estimated $57.8 billion in planned investment and tens of thousands of additional jobs that were expected but never materialized.

For homeowners, this doesn't change what upgrades exist or how they work, but it's a sign that the broader clean energy market is shrinking rather than expanding for now. Incentive programs and available contractors in your area could be affected differently depending on your state, since some states are seeing far steeper pullbacks than others. If you're weighing an efficiency upgrade, it's worth checking on the current status of any federal or state incentives you were counting on, since this kind of policy shift can affect what's still on offer.