NREL’s Economic Impact Hits $1.9 Billion

The economic impact of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) topped $1.9 billion nationwide in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder’s (CU Boulder’s) Leeds School of Business.

Every state in the nation felt an impact from direct or indirect spending connected to NREL, but the economic impact was highest in Colorado where the laboratory maintains two campuses. The study estimates NREL’s contribution to Colorado’s economy reached $1.3 billion in the last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2023, and represents an increase of 48.6% from FY 2019.

After Colorado, the states that felt the largest economic impact from work connected to NREL were California, Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota. The previously released economic impact study noted 2.6% of NREL employees lived outside of Colorado, in 20 other states.

NREL now counts employees in 48 states and in Washington, D.C., accounting for 14% of its workforce. The eight states with the largest number of NREL employees as residents are Colorado, California, Texas, Virginia, New York, Florida, Alaska, and Washington, collectively representing 93% of the total.

“The numbers show the increasingly important work being done at NREL and at partner universities and corporations as the country pushes forward with the energy transition,” said Martin Keller, NREL director and president of Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC, which manages and operates the laboratory for the Department of Energy. The Alliance funded the report.

Founded 47 years ago as the Solar Energy Research Institute, NREL has seen its mission grow considerably. Research at NREL includes work on alternative fuels, energy storage, power from wind and water, electric vehicles, and a stronger electrical grid.

NREL reported employment of 3,184 full-time, part-time, and postdoctoral employees in FY 2023 and directly employed or supported more than 8,200 jobs nationwide. The largest percentage of employees live in Jefferson County, Colorado, where NREL’s South Table Mountain Campus and its Flatirons Campus are located. The CU Boulder study calculated the economic impact NREL had on Jefferson County was $889 million.

Approximately 60% of NREL employees are tasked with the core mission of scientific research. In terms of education, 86% of the employees hold college degrees, including 30% with doctorates.
NREL’s budget for FY 2023 was $776 million, primarily from the Department of Energy.