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A statement issued by NREL calls the layoffs an involuntary separation, thanks employees for their work, and acknowledges that the mission is critical to achieving an affordable and secure energy future. As proposed federal budget cuts threaten to hinder the advancement of clean energy in the United States, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced the layoff of 114 employees. The affected employees work at NREL headquarters in Golden, Colorado, as well as remote workers at other locations, according to Colorado Public Radio. A statement issued by NREL called the layoffs an involuntary separation, thanked them for their work, and acknowledged that the mission is critical to achieving an affordable and secure energy future. NREL continues to navigate a complex financial and operational landscape shaped by the issuance of stop-work orders from federal agencies, new federal directives, and budget changes. As a result, NREL has experienced workforce impacts affecting 114 employees across the laboratory, including research and operations staff, who were involuntarily separated today. We are grateful for their important contributions to the laboratory. NRELs mission remains critical to achieving an affordable and secure energy future. We are grateful for the dedication and commitment of our staff as we continue to advance the work of the laboratory. NREL is the Department of Energys (DOE) flagship research laboratory. President Trumps recently announced budget includes $2.5 billion (74%) cuts to the DOEs Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy division. The labs goal is to transform energy through research and development in many areas, including advanced manufacturing, biomass, energy-efficient buildings, scientific data management, visualization, and computing. The output of their research projects has far-reaching implications. They have launched new startups, trained scientists and researchers, and solved real-world problems. For example, an international team led by NREL used ionic salt for the electron transport layer of a perovskite solar cell to improve device stability and the performance of this new technology. NREL researchers produced a report examining the factors driving demand for distribution transformers, a shortage of which is causing a bottleneck in infrastructure construction. NREL researchers developed SolarApp+, a software program that streamlines solar permitting for municipalities. Through NREL, the DOE launched the Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge, which resulted in leading manufacturers, such as Lennox, producing cutting-edge products. And the list goes on. NRELs history dates back to 1974, when President Gerald Ford created the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), which became NREL in 1991. Dedicated to renewable energy sources, the laboratory is managed by the Sustainable Energy Alliance, a joint venture of MRIGlobal and Battelle. NREL is governed by a board of trustees composed of five executives from MRIGlobal and Battelle, respectively, and one from each of the following six universities: University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. |
