Smart grid deployment could mean 280,000 new jobs in US, says report

In a ‘Smart Grid Jobs’ report released recently by the GridWise Alliance, it was estimated that up to 280,000 new jobs can be created directly from the deployment of smart grid technologies. The report explains that federal investment in a smart grid could act as a catalyst for these planned and immediate direct jobs as well as spawn many indirect jobs.

In addition to the 280,000 direct jobs, the report notes that a smart grid will drive a substantial number of indirect jobs as it enables the deployment of new technologies such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, distributed renewable energy resources such as solar, smart appliances, home automation software and hardware and wind energy generation.

"Increasingly, a smart grid is seen as a key enabler for the new energy economy and, as such, is foundational for the millions of 'green collar jobs' President-Elect Obama is aiming for," says Guido Bartels, Chairman of the GridWise Alliance and General Manager Global Energy & Utilities Industry at IBM.

The report projects that a US$16 billion federal investment in smart incentives over the next four years would drive $64 billion in smart grid-related projects resulting in approximately 280,000 new direct positions across various categories.

Katherine Hamilton, President of the GridWise Alliance, adds: “We know first-hand that a smart grid allows our electric infrastructure to be more reliable, resilient and secure. There is also a growing consensus that a smart grid is one of the critical and necessary enablers for optimising renewable resources, maximising energy efficiency and unleashing the potential of distributed energy storage technologies.”