Automakers are particularly vulnerable to economic downturns; just think back to the 2008-2009 financial crisis. So it should come as no surprise that EV sales, along with all others, are expected to drop in the coming year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. But in the long term, nothing has changed. Manufacturers are gearing up their EV offerings, EVs continue to grow their worldwide market share, and gas-powered vehicles have hit their peak. What’s next, especially in the United States, is for the charging station build-out to match the coming demand – and realize the job gains and global competitive advantage that could come from a federal charging-station investment.

The numbers are staggering: 33 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the COVID pandemic, including nearly 600,000 in the advanced energy industry. And by the end of June, that number could hit 850,000. That would be nearly a quarter of the 3.6 million advanced energy jobs that existed at the start of the year – a time when advanced energy was a $238 billion a year industry in the United States, with employment that was growing nearly twice as fast as U.S. employment overall. For those of us who work in the industry, we know the new reality all too well, as emails bounce back not with “out of office,” but rather “no longer works here” or “has been furloughed.” It’s heartbreaking. But there are things state policymakers – especially governors and public utility commissioners – can do to prevent advanced energy business from coming to a complete halt during the public health crisis, and keep the advanced energy industry in a position to aid the economic recovery that follows. Here we lay out five ways state policymakers could do just that.

In just two short months, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the American economy. The unemployment rate has reached levels that the country has not seen since the Great Depression nearly 100 years ago. Congress and the Trump Administration have responded by providing trillions of dollars of immediate relief to businesses and households to avoid even worse impacts. But no action has been taken on a simple measure that could help save hundreds of thousands of advanced energy jobs that otherwise may never return. The time to act is now, because time is running out.

In 1999, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 7, opening up the Lone Star State’s electricity market to competition. Since then, Texas has been at the forefront of energy innovation. Now, nearly 20 years later, distributed energy resources (DERs) are the cutting edge of energy innovation, continuing the two-decade process of making the Texas grid more secure, clean, reliable, and affordable. With the COVID-19 public health crisis changing where and how we use electricity, just as it has changed where we work and how we learn, DERs couldn’t have come along at a better time. 

Florida, the Sunshine State, has always had good reason to develop solar power, but has still lagged behind other states. More recently, the case for Florida solar has strengthened even more. The price of solar has fallen by 36% in Florida over the last five years. This low-cost, fixed-price resource is particularly attractive to companies with commitments to renewable energy, including General Electric and Disney, while cities like Orlando, Sarasota, and Tallahassee that have established 100% renewable energy targets. Despite the economics of solar and commitments from companies and municipalities, Florida has not taken the lead on solar. The recent approval of a major solar program for customers of one utility will not do it all, but it’s a good start.