Workforce Travel Anticipated to Increase as Green Energy Sector Receives Major Boost

Never judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, never judge a bill by its name.

You’d be hard-pressed to link the passing of something named the Inflation Reduction Act with the biggest investment in clean energy and manufacturing in U.S. history, but it appears to be the case.

Included in the bill passed earlier this year is a total of $369 billion in funding for climate and clean energy provisions.

The spending represents the most significant climate action legislation in U.S. history and could bring about an economic boom South of the Border.

In the two months following the passing of the bill, roughly $28 billion in new manufacturing investment has been announced, primarily in the electric vehicle, battery, and solar manufacturing sectors.

Such a massive increase in the demand for workers will come at a time when the U.S. workforce is already struggling with meeting the existing requirements. As of April 2021, the US construction industry had roughly 440,000 job openings, and the US manufacturing industry had more than one million— the highest levels recorded since industry-level jobs data were first collected.

Mitigating employee retention and recruitment

There are ways construction firms can alleviate the loss of existing employees and provide a more appealing workplace when recruiting new workers. By placing an emphasis on worker safety, security and comfort, companies can boost retention by revisiting what employees want beyond increased wages.

With such a massive increase in the amount of clean energy available in the U.S., one challenge will be getting that energy to consumers.

The amount of new power generation and energy storage projects in so-called “interconnection queues” seeking to connect to the grid across the U.S. continues to rise dramatically, with over 1,400 gigawatts (GW) of total generation and storage capacity now seeking connection to the grid, according to new research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The queues indicate particularly strong interest in solar, battery storage, and wind energy, which account for 93% of all proposed capacity. Altogether, this potential investment of over $2 trillion represents more capacity than the current U.S. power fleet.

Currently, America’s transmission lines – which distribute power across the nation, are in desperate need of an update. A recent study from nonprofit research group Climate Central showed in the last decade, the U.S. experienced 64 percent more power outages than it did during the decade prior.