NORTH CAROLINA’S GREEN ENERGY ECONOMY CONTINUES RAPID GROWTH, DESPITE RECESSION

RALEIGH, NC – The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) has released the 2009 North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Industries Census, which identified 10,250 green energy jobs in all 100 counties of North Carolina. The annual report was released at NCSEA’s forum, “Growing North Carolina’s Green Energy Economy: Learning, Connecting & Creating Opportunities Together,” which was held at the Charlotte Convention Center on Friday, October 9 with close to 400 attendees from across the state. Click here to download the full report.

Earlier this summer, NCSEA identified and surveyed 1,136 firms potentially meeting these criteria. The firms largely represented businesses, but several state agencies, education outfits, and non-profits were also included. A total of 548 firms met the qualifications and responded to the census’ 23 questions. Another 110 firms indicated they did not meet any of the qualifying criteria.

The 2009 report estimates that the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries employ 10,250 full-time equivalent employees across a broad supply chain in North Carolina. Manufacturers support the greatest percentage of employees – 23% of the reported jobs were with firms that identified manufacturing as most important to their business.

NCSEA estimates that renewable energy and energy efficiency industries generate more than $3.5 billion in annual revenue from North Carolina activities, with the industries maintaining a presence in all 100 North Carolina counties. 

Wake County is leading the state’s green energy economy due to its 141 firms reporting a presence. Mecklenburg County ranks second with 99 firms and Buncombe County ranks third with 57 firms. NCSEA defines a “presence” as having a headquarters, satellite office, manufacturing facility, or remotely located employees. The Research Triangle Region supports 36% of the reporting firms’ headquarters.

More information is available by downloading the full report...



Click here to download the 2009 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industries Census.

Click here to download the press release announcing the 2009 Industries Census.

Click here for more information on the 2008 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industries Census.

More than 400 leaders from communities across North Carolina attended events at the Charlotte Convention Center on Oct. 8-9 focused on our state's Green Energy Economy. NCSEA hosted the events entitled, GROWING NORTH CAROLINA'S GREEN ENERGY ECONOMY: Learning, Connecting & Creating Opportunities Together.

Click here to view a slide show of photographs from the events. (Photographs taken by Andrew Whelan.)

Thursday evening's Networking Reception featured remarks by Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a highly-acclaimed author and one of our nation's leading voices on renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency solutions.

All day on Friday, October 9, NCSEA hosted a major Green Energy Economy forum, which included the organization's Annual Membership Meeting. The highlights of the day included the release of the long-awaited 2009 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industries Census, the election of NCSEA's 2010 Board of Directors and remarks by the luncheon keynote speaker John Morrison, North Carolina's new Assistant Secretary of Energy at the Department of Commerce. The forum also featured informational panel discussions, presentations, Q&A sessions, remarks by Charlotte's Mayor Pat McCrory, and the announcement of the 2009 sustainable energy awards.

NCSEA's Networking Reception & Fundraiser in Charlotte on June 23 was a huge success! The reception brought together over 250 of the Charlotte region's top energy, economic development, finance and community leaders who are playing a leading role in developing our clean energy economy, as well as NCSEA's policy and market development experts, local elected officials, representatives of state and local government agencies, educational institutions, community organizations, legal experts, and other supportive citizens. 

Due to overwhelming support by attendees who bought tickets and our gracious Sponsors and Partners, NCSEA is close to meeting our $20,000 fundraising goal for our new Charlotte Regional Energy Leadership Fund. The funds raised at this event will allow NCSEA to increase our work in the Charlotte region, hire a part-time staff member (based in Charlotte), and ensure North Carolina becomes one of the top sustainable energy markets on the East Coast.

Click here for more information.

Last year through the work of NCSEA, North Carolina became the third state in the nation to quantify and track our state's renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses and jobs. And now, it's that time again! Through the end of June, NCSEA will conduct an online survey of our state's more than 1,000 businesses for the "2009 North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Industry Census." 

Businesses will receive an email from our staff, which will include a link to the online survey. Some businesses may also receive a duplicate paper survey if our staff was unable to confirm an email contact. It is very important for all businesses to complete either the online survey or the paper survey by June 30th to ensure their responses are included in the final report, which will be announced in October. North Carolina's elected officials, economic developers, business leaders, the media and others rely on this valuable information and are anxiously awaiting the updated results.

The inaugural 2008 survey was a huge success - garnering both local and national coverage and we are excited to repeat this success in 2009. Click here to view the "2008 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industry Census."

The goal of the project is to better understand the employment and industry dynamics of North Carolina's renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses. The year's Industry Census will examine company sizes, core competencies and employment dynamics. The survey is 25 questions and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Survey responses and contact information are kept confidential. The survey results and any additional analysis are made available only in aggregate.

Renewable energy or energy efficiency business in North Carolina that would like to get started on the 2009 Industry Census online survey right away may click here. 

To learn more about the survey, recommend a company for inclusion, or ensure that your company is on the survey list, please contact Rich Crowley at richard@energync.org or (919) 832-7601, ext. 104.

In response to the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package and possible legislative action by the NC General Assembly, NCSEA surveyed renewable energy and energy efficiency companies across our state regarding their “shovel-ready” projects, which could create additional "green jobs" by the end of 2010. 

Based on survey responses, NCSEA found that if state and federal legislative action occurs before July 2009, including passage of the federal economic stimulus package and removing current economic and market barriers, sustainable energy businesses across North Carolina could create over 7,500 new jobs in the next two years. (This number is expected to be much higher when you take into account all of the estimated 500 sustainable energy companies across North Carolina.)

The federal economic stimulus and recovery package will directly impact the sustainable energy industries in North Carolina and is expected to create or protect millions of jobs nationally that cannot be outsourced, double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, modernize federal buildings, make homes and schools more energy efficient, save consumers and taxpayers billions on their energy bills, and much more. 

NCSEA received 71 survey responses from companies across North Carolina, providing a representative sample of the approximately 500 companies currently employing people across North Carolina in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. This small snap-shot of the entire industry produced some big answers. to view the full press release, survey findings and recent media coverage.

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