A longstanding federal research laboratory supporting national renewable energy deployment has laid off more than 100 people for the second time in less than a year. The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) reportedly laid off 134 people this week.
An aerial view of NREL’s South Table Mountain Campus outside Golden, Colorado. Photo by Joshua Bauer, NREL.
This latest round of layoffs comes nine months after another 114 employees were cut from the lab in Golden, Colorado, affecting NRL’s research and operations departments, as reported by CBS News.
The research center was founded in 1974 as the Solar Energy Research Institute, then later renamed as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Trump administration’s Dept. of Energy again renamed it to NLR in December, which happened one month after the DOE removed or replaced several offices with missions of decarbonization, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
NLR has been responsible for many initiatives and research projects supporting renewable energy deployment in the United States. The lab also hosts the National Center for Photovoltaics. Colorado Public Radio reported that an NRL spokesperson attributed the layoffs to “projected funding levels” and matching new priorities under the current DOE.
Solar Power World has left a voicemail with NRL and is awaiting further comment.
