US clean energy employment fell in 2025 for the first time in four years, according to an analysis of federal jobs data by the advocacy group E2. The sector ended the year with 3.52 million workers, down nearly 37,000 from 2024 — a drop of about 1% that erased roughly 40% of the previous year's growth.
The decline coincided with policy headwinds. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act stripped renewable energy tax credits and consumer incentives, and the EV tax credit ended in September 2025. Clean vehicles lost 2.4% of their workforce, while energy efficiency shed 21,443 jobs, the largest absolute loss. However, overall energy employment also fell, suggesting broader trends played a role.
Storage and grid modernization bucked the trend, growing 3.2% as grid batteries kept tax credits and bipartisan support. Yet the data does not capture the full impact of policy changes: E2 says companies canceled or downsized nearly 150 clean energy projects in 2025, projects that would have created about 85,000 jobs.