Post-Pandemic Job Creation
Lloyd Kass is Vice President of Market Development and Regulatory Strategy for Franklin Energy and AM Conservation Group, a longstanding national leader in the delivery of flexible energy efficiency and grid optimization programs for utilities and government clients in thirty U.S. states. For more than two decades, Lloyd has developed and implemented clean energy policy and programs within utilities and government, as both a public servant and a consultant.
Scaling energy efficient solutions in homes and commercial buildings could not be more important than it is at this very moment. Energy efficiency represents the kind of infrastructure investment that will power our economy as we emerge from the throes of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2020, the U.S. lost four hundred twenty-nine thousand two hundred fifty energy efficiency jobs. Our economy needs a boost right now, and it is clear many policymakers know that investment in energy efficiency will restore and grow career-track, skilled trade, and professional services jobs.
For decades, states have been the level of government mostly likely to recognize the benefits of ambitious energy efficiency policy. In the first half of 2021, states have turned to energy efficiency once again. Governors, legislatures, and utility commissions in the Northeast, Midwest, and West have sought bold action in recent months to advance energy efficiency in a variety of ways. Here are a few examples:
In mid-May, the future of energy efficiency in Arizona appeared bleak. The utility commission had blocked a proposal to establish a strong new energy efficiency standard. In a dramatic turnaround, however, in mid-July a bipartisan majority of commissioners voted to advance new rules that will increase energy efficiency savings in Arizona by fifty-nine percent by 2030.