Kentucky Clean Energy Jobs: 32,322 Workers (2024)
Kentucky supports 32,322 clean-energy workers across 8 sectors tracked by the USEER.
1. Employment Landscape — by sector
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 25,562 | #28 |
| Electric Vehicles | 2,954 | #11 |
| Solar | 2,268 | #31 |
| Storage & Grid | 822 | #31 |
| Wind | 298 | #47 |
| Hydropower | 154 | #37 |
| Clean Fuels | 142 | #34 |
| Nuclear | 122 | #33 |
3. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Employer-reported hiring difficulty and the NAICS industry split for clean-energy jobs in Kentucky.
3.1 Hiring difficulty breakdown
Did not hire
49.6%
Somewhat difficult hiring
26.6%
Very difficult hiring
20.9%
Not at all difficult hiring
2.9%
3.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 78,131 |
| Construction | 20,948 |
| Other Services | 13,174 |
| Trade | 11,333 |
| Professional Services | 9,708 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 8,485 |
| Utilities | 7,670 |
| Mining and Extraction | 6,045 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 558 |
4. Full USEER Metrics for Kentucky
Every line-item reported in the public 2025 USEER workbook for Kentucky: fuels, electricity generation, transmission/distribution/storage, efficiency, vehicles, and NAICS industry groups.
Fuels
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Fuels total | 13,928 |
| Coal fuels | 6,992 |
| Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) | 4,180 |
| Natural gas fuels | 1,030 |
| Corn ethanol | 594 |
| Other fuels | 555 |
| Woody biomass | 201 |
| Other ethanol and non-woody biomass | 194 |
| Other biofuels | 142 |
| Nuclear fuels | 40 |
Electric Power Generation
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Electric power generation total | 5,876 |
| Solar | 2,268 |
| Coal electricity | 1,316 |
| Natural gas electricity | 938 |
| Bioenergy/Combined heat and power | 326 |
| Wind | 298 |
| Other electricity | 202 |
| Traditional hydropower | 154 |
| Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics | 123 |
| Nuclear electricity | 122 |
| Geothermal electricity | 85 |
| Oil and other fossil fuel electricity | 45 |
Transmission, Distribution & Storage
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Transmission, distribution, and storage total | 25,423 |
| Traditional transmission and distribution | 14,557 |
| Other (including commodity flows) | 9,240 |
| Storage | 822 |
| Other grid modernization | 302 |
| Smart grid | 256 |
| Micro grid | 245 |
Energy Efficiency
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Energy efficiency total | 25,562 |
| High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling | 7,655 |
| Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component | 5,967 |
| Certified and efficient lighting | 5,724 |
| Advanced materials | 3,513 |
| Other | 2,703 |
Motor Vehicles
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle total | 85,263 |
| Gasoline and diesel vehicles | 68,350 |
| Hybrid electric vehicles | 4,486 |
| Other vehicles | 4,321 |
| Battery electric vehicles | 2,954 |
| Motor vehicle commodity flows | 2,283 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | 1,943 |
| Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles | 486 |
| Natural gas vehicles | 439 |
By NAICS Industry
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 78,131 |
| Construction | 20,948 |
| Other Services | 13,174 |
| Trade | 11,333 |
| Professional Services | 9,708 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 8,485 |
| Utilities | 7,670 |
| Mining and Extraction | 6,045 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 558 |