In bid for big battery plant, Georgia anted up $358M in incentives

January 13, 2023

The Atlanta Journal Constitution: In bid for big battery plant, Georgia anted up $358M in incentives

An artist rendering of the Freyr Battery facility the start-up Norwegian company plans to build in Coweta County, Georgia.
An artist rendering of the Freyr Battery facility the start-up Norwegian company plans to build in Coweta County, Georgia. Source: Freyr Battery

“A Norwegian battery upstart could receive more than $358 million in grants, tax breaks and other inducements from state and local governments to build its planned Coweta County factory where it will build giant energy storage systems for utilities and other clients.

The state and local incentives offered to Freyr Battery are detailed in documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the Georgia Open Records Act. Freyr announced plans in November for a $2.57 billion factory in Coweta where it employ 724 workers making energy storage systems and lithium-ion batteries…

Greg LeRoy, executive director of left-leaning incentives watchdog Good Jobs First, said he worries Coweta County residents will have to cover local government costs incurred by Freyr’s new factory until the tax abatement ends.

“You’re going to have to hire more teachers, pick up more trash, widen more lanes and answer more 911 calls,” he said. “If this company isn’t paying for a share of those induced costs, then everybody else gets stuck with the bill.”

Read the full story at AJC.