U.S. electric utility employment 2022, by energy technology

In 2022, almost 177,000 people worked for utilities in the electric power generation sector in the United States. Around 64,000 of these employees worked in power generation from natural gas sources. Nuclear-powered electric utilities employed some 41,000 employees that year.

Fossil fuel sector in the U.S.

In 2022, over 50 percent of the people working in U.S. power utilities were employed in plants fueled by natural gas, coal, oil, or combined heat and power. However, the country plans over 74 gigawatts worth of capacity retirements from hydrocarbon plants between 2024 and 2035, approximately 10 percent of the existing fossil fuel energy capacity in the U.S.. As a result, the fossil fuel sector will likely see employment decrease.

Clean energy sector in the U.S.

Nuclear energy utilities in the U.S. had the second-largest number of employees after natural gas in 2022, and the nuclear industry jobs in the country had a fourfold increase when the power plant Vogtle started operations in 2023. Although renewable energy contribution to the employment figures in 2022 was limited, both hydropower and solar energy-related jobs showed a growing trend that year.