Green jobs are growing in N.C.

North Carolina's green sector has expanded to 12,500 jobs, a 22 percent increase in the past year, a Raleigh trade group announced in its annual report.

The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association said green jobs now exist in all 100 counties, spread across private industry, nonprofits and government agencies.

Wake County leads the state in green jobs, with 128 organizations responding to the trade group's survey. Mecklenburg County is second in total green jobs.

The trade group and lobbying organization represents the green industry in the state. Some of the 546 organizations that met N.C. SEA's definition of green are members of the trade group.

The group's report doesn't identify any companies in its report, but most are small, with five or fewer employees. But N.C. SEA said the jobs are in research, manufacturing, building retrofits, renewable energy installers and retailers, and consulting.

Green outfits in the Triangle include solar panel installers such as Southern Energy Management, Carolina Solar Energy and Yes! Solar Solutions; smart grid developers such as Elster, Cisco Systems and Consert; technology developers and manufacturers such as Cree, Greenfire Development and Microcell; andenergy service firms such asBradyTrane and Noresco, said N.C. SEA spokeswoman Julie Robinson.

To participate in the N.C. SEA survey, employers had to allocate at least 50 percent of staff time to work related to renewable energy or energy efficiency, or generate at least 50 percent of revenue from such work.

Green jobs are likely to grow 20 percent next year, largely driven by consumer demand and state energy policy, the N.C. SEA said.

Two-thirds of the firms said their products and services will be delivered within North Carolina. The companies' combined revenue is estimated at $3.5 billion.

While North Carolina is considered a renewable-energy leader in the Southeast, N.C. SEA Deputy Director Paul Quinlan said state policies need to take a "holistic approach" to boost the industry.

Google's announcement this week that it would invest in a network to transmit electricity from offshore wind farms from Virginia to New York, he said, probably indicated that the northern states have been more vocal in support of offshore wind energy. That's despite estimates of powerful wind resources off North Carolina.

Helping companies retool to produce energy products could help boost the state's manufacturing losses, he said.

"With the right incentives and state policies - like the recently passed renewable energy manufacturing tax credit - current manufacturing facilities can retool, transition, and grow into the sustainable energy industries," Quinlan said.

Charlotte Observer staff writer Bruce Henderson contributed to this report.