The Climate Jobs Institute produces research reports, tools, and resources to support the state’s transition to a clean energy economy. We identify ways to minimize job loss, maximize high-quality job creation, promote economic development, and facilitate an equitable transition to a clean energy economy.
Ongoing Research Projects
The Illinois Coal Workers & Communities Listening Project
Coal has powered Illinois for generations — and in many towns, it still does. In others, mines and plants have closed, leaving communities to grapple with what’s been lost and what’s possible moving forward. Wherever your community stands today, your voice matters in shaping the future.
This project is about listening first. We want to learn from coal workers, family members and community leaders. We want to hear from people who’ve lived through these closures — or are preparing for them now — to understand what’s happening on the ground. We want to learn from those experiences, honor workers’ stories, and use what we learn to help strengthen these communities.
Union Labor and Clean Energy Research
The Climate Jobs Institute is researching how Illinois construction and building trade unions are navigating the clean energy transition. We’re exploring their participation in clean energy construction projects and the challenges and opportunities they face.
Stay tuned for a report of our findings–coming soon!
Clean Energy Jobs Analyses
CJI is conducting research to better understand clean energy job and training needs, helping to inform workforce policy and workforce program implementation. We are analyzing job postings and Department of Labor data to recommend areas of focus for the state’s clean energy workforce training programs and other training programs.
Stay tuned for a report of our findings–coming soon!
Building Electrification Study
Illinois is considering new policies to support building electrification in Illinois. This study will help inform electrification policy and implementation. We’ll start with a market analysis of residential and commercial electrification and thermal energy network technologies and adoption. We’ll consider barriers to adoption, policies, and workforce needs to support electrification. We’ll estimate the impacts of electrification on the economy and workforce and model scenarios for adoption.
Solar Workforce Job Quality Study
The Climate Jobs Institute is launching a study to explore job quality and working conditions in the solar industry in Illinois, from workers’ perspectives. Though Illinois has some of the strongest labor standards of any state (e.g., prevailing wage and project labor agreement requirements), there is still much that we don’t know about job quality in the solar industry. We’ll draw on available datasets to characterize the Illinois solar workforce and then reach out directly to workers and contractors to explore working conditions and job quality.
Solar and Wind Economic Analysis
Illinois has seen an unprecedented level of solar development since 2019, from 40 Megawatt (MW) cumulative solar capacity in 2019 to 4500 MW solar capacity in January of 2025 (see Illinois Solar Map). Cumulative wind has increased at a more modest pace, from approximately 5,200 MW cumulative capacity in 2019 to 8,200 MW in 2024 (U.S. Energy Information Administration).
What are the economic impacts of this expansion? How have communities benefitted, in terms of tax revenue and employment? How have household electricity costs been impacted by renewable energy development? Our research seeks to quantify this impact and the distribution of the economic benefits across regions and populations.
Assessing the Assessments: Carbon-Free Public Schools
The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act established a Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment program to support K-12 schools in identifying ways to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions. Since 2022, Ameren Illinois and ComEd have been administering the program, delivering assessment reports to hundreds of public schools throughout Illinois. Our research seeks to support this program by analyzing the recommended and implemented measures. We’ll also be working with the utilities to survey and interview participating schools and contractors.
Clean Energy Policy Research
We periodically publish analyses of state and federal clean energy legislation, policies, and actions, exploring their impact on Illinois workers and communities. At the state level, our goal is to provide research that can inform policy making. At the federal level, we are closely monitoring how Trump Administration actions are impacting clean energy jobs, labor and equity standards, and job quality. Through policy analysis, we will recommend ways the state of Illinois might mitigate the negative impact of these new federal actions and continue to meet its clean energy goals.
Sign up for CJI Updates
Interested in staying informed on what CJI is doing? Sign up to receive our quarterly newsletter and other research updates. We’ll share summaries of our research findings, links to publications and tools, and opportunities for collaboration.
Past Newsletters
Winter 2025 Research and News
Fall 2024 Research and News
Dig Deeper
Clean Energy Workforce Tools for Planning, Connections, and Grant Applications
April 10, 2025
Want to learn more about how you can use CJI’s tools? In this webinar, Linda Larsen, Associate Director of Research at the Climate Jobs Institute, shares CJI’s tools that have been developed to help with planning and grant applications for Clean Energy projects.