How many jobs does the clean energy (including energy efficiency) industry support in Virginia and the Southeast? What types of jobs? At how many different companies? And with what type of revenue? What challenges are standing in the way?

Those are questions we get asked by policy and decision makers all the time. And we need your help as VAEEC members and stakeholders to answer them.

Please respond to a survey conducted during the summer of 2016 as part of the Southeast Clean Energy Industry Census. This four-state project, implemented by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), documents trends and changes within the clean energy industry in order to demonstrate to decision makers where regulation and policy are achieving a successful marketplace.

What is the Census? 

Every year since 2008, the NCSEA has conducted a census of all businesses and activities both directly and indirectly related to the clean energy sector. It was expanded in 2013 to also include South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, allowing for a more comprehensive picture of the energy economy of the Southeast. The Virginia Energy Efficiency Council is responsible for the Virginia portion of the census, and has expanded the list to include all businesses that operate within the energy efficiency sector.

You can download the 2013 Virginia Census Report. 

Why is it important?

The census allows us to benchmark the overall clean energy industry and specific sectors, to share with legislators the impact clean energy is having on both the state and local economy, to connect with current and potential members about their work, to share the success story of clean energy with news media, and to identify where policy changes are affecting the marketplace over time.

How the Census works

All businesses will be sent a survey via email, which is conducted in complete confidentiality in order to receive the most accurate and direct responses possible. In the survey, each business will be asked questions regarding company details (e.g., name, address, primary contact), clean energy activities performed, clean energy sectors in which the business is active, revenue, full-time jobs offered by the clean energy activity/sector, and areas in which the company does business. The survey is considered complete if businesses include responses to all of the aforementioned topics. The survey will be posted online, and will be open through September 20, 2016. If we haven’t heard back from your company, you will be contacted by phone in June and July by an outside contractor, and follow-up interviews with non-respondents will be conducted in September. The survey, based on a sample pool of approximately 3,800 firms, aims to obtain a minimum of 1,600 completions by phone or online.

By completing this survey, each business helps us create an accurate analysis of the economic impact of clean energy, to demonstrate the effects of policy changes on the industry over time, and to build a network of resources that are invaluable to national-level partners.

Effectively, this survey will help to not only shape the future of the energy industry in Virginia and the Southeast, but also future policy changes for the entire country. In order to create the most informative list possible, it is imperative that all businesses give detailed and complete responses in order to paint a vivid picture of the dynamic and exciting clean energy industry.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@vaeec.org.