Ivanpah Creating Domestic Jobs in Rust Belt
Much has been said about the significant economic benefits and jobs the Ivanpah project is creating in California’s High Desert region. A report recently released by Next 10, a Bay Area public policy group, found that California’s “core green economy” is growing more than three times as fast as the state’s old brown economy between 2008 and 2009. A San Francisco Chronicle story can be found here.
But the job growth is not just limited to California. Ivanpah is also creating jobs across the country. Recently, BrightSource signed a contract with Cone Drive Gearing Solutions, an 85-year old Michigan company that is supplying Ivanpah with solar tracking drives. The Cone Drive announcement is part of a broader trend of clean energy job creation and a resurgence of a manufacturing sector in the recession-hit Rust Belt area of the US. And to manufacture the solar tracking drives, Cone Drive Gearing Solutions will be sourcing components from other companies within its own supply chain, further adding to the job growth. A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts highlights how most states are seeing significant growth in clean energy jobs, with robust increases in states like Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.