State gets high ranks for energy efficiency jobs

Connecticut ranks in the top half of states nationwide when it comes to energy efficiency jobs, according to a new report.

The state is ranked 22nd with 34,743 jobs related to energy efficiency, according to the report, which was done for two groups. Environmental Entrepreneurs and E4 The Future. California is the state with the largest number of energy efficiency jobs with 310,433.

Connecticut’s energy efficiency employment levels have nearly tripled since the last report was released in December 2016.

Hartford County is the state’s leader in energy efficiency jobs with 11,209. Fairfield County has the next highest number of energy efficiency workers with 9,546, followed by New Haven County with 6,999.

Connecticut has the second-largest number of energy efficiency jobs in New England, trailing only Massachusetts, which has 84,556.

Nationally, there 2.25 million energy efficiency jobs and employment in the sector grew by 3 percent in 2017.

Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, said the benefits of energy efficiency are twofold: Savings on heating, cooling and power costs; as well as the job creation that comes with those efforts.

“These are good-paying jobs at your neighborhood construction company, upgrading windows and installing insulation; at your hometown HVAC contractor, installing heat pumps and high-efficiency air conditioners; at your local factory, manufacturing Energy Star appliances and LED lighting systems; and at thousands of related companies nationwide,” Keefe said in a statement.

For the purposes of the report, energy efficiency employment covers jobs in both the production of energy-saving products and the provision of services that reduce end-use energy consumption. Some of the jobs in the latter category include building design and contracting services that provide insulation, improve natural lighting, and reduce overall energy consumption across homes and businesses.

Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy consultant, said the substantial gains in energy efficiency employment reflect an increase in funding.

“Significantly more money went into the energy efficiency fund over the last two years,” Gordes said.

But Gordes said the sector’s employment gains achieved since the end of 2016 are likely to be rolled back as a result of the Connecticut legislature raiding the clean energy fund to help balance the state’s budget.

The Legislature’s raids of the fund are the subject of a lawsuit that is making its way through the legal system. Oral arguments in the lawsuit will be heard Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in New Haven.