July 22, 2022: Nearly 70,000 workers were employed in the US battery storage sector in 2021, according to latest data published on June 30 by the Department of Energy’s Office of Policy.

The 2022 US Energy and Employment Report said jobs in batteries made up 80% of all storage technology jobs — an increase of 4.4% from the previous year.

Employees involved in battery storage numbered 69,698, which USEER said was nearly nine times the 7,901 employed in pumped storage hydropower — the next storage sector in terms of jobs.

According to the report, more than half of workers in the battery storage sector (53%) were in construction, followed by manufacturing (18%), “various professional services roles” (17%), wholesale trade distribution and transport (11%), while 2% were listed under the category of other services.

Jobs in the US energy sector overall in 2021 increased by more than 300,000 from 7.5 million total energy jobs in 2020.

The Department of Energy said the findings of the USEER showed that energy sector jobs outpaced overall US employment in 2021.

Photo: Texas-based energy company Vistra’s DeCordova battery energy storage facility.