Kansas saw a 5% increase in clean energy jobs in 2023, adding jobs almost six times faster than the overall Kansas economy, according to Clean Jobs Midwest’s report on 2023.

The number of Kansas employees working in the sector reached record highs in 2023 with 26,058 people working in clean energy, breaking the record set in 2019 when 24,812 worked in the field.

What are clean energy jobs?

The most common subsector people worked in is energy efficiency, which includes things like installing Energy STAR-certified lighting and appliances, efficient heating and cooling and home construction using energy efficient materials like low-carbon concrete.

“The energy efficiency sector covers a number of segments,” Ian Adams, managing director of Evergreen Innovation, said during a news conference. “Across the value chain, this could be somebody installing new, higher efficiency appliances, it’s also on the manufacturer of those appliances, and sort of everything in between there.”

All other sectors measured in Kansas — renewable energy, clean transportation, grid and storage, and clean fuels — amounted to less than half of the workforce of energy efficiency. That trend is similar to most of the Midwestern states covered in the report.

“The big top line is that there are more than 760,000 clean energy jobs in the Midwest. The industry grew by 4% in 2023, more than 28,000 jobs,” Adams said.

But Kansas had the fewest share of the total workforce working in clean energy compared to every other state measured at 1.8% of the workforce. Michigan, the state with the highest share of clean energy jobs, had 2.9% of its workforce in the field.

But the workforce is growing, with the fastest growing segment being in car manufacturing. In Kansas, there were 296 new jobs in the green vehicle industry.

“This report clearly shows clean energy is driving significant employment gains and outpacing traditional energy sectors, demonstrating the importance of data-driven policy making to create jobs where they are needed most,” said Micaela Preskill, director of state advocacy for E2, a nonprofit advocating for clean energy projects.

Inflation Reduction Act

Many panelists said sustained growth in the field will rely on defense of the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 bill that sought to reduce the federal government’s budget deficit, lower prescription drug prices and invest in clean energy production.

“Since the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August of 2022, 90 large scale clean energy projects have already been announced across the Midwest. So, this report reinforces that these policies are working,” Preskill said.

The bill does have its detractors. The Tax Foundation, a business-friendly think tank, criticized the bill’s green energy tax credits for its higher-than estimated costs, its disproportionate use by wealthy individuals and large businesses, and for creating more complex tax codes.