Elon Musk’s $1B NY solar panel factory is reportedly a ‘boondoggle’ for taxpayersBy Shannon Thaler
July 7, 2023
New York state has spent nearly $1 billion since 2014 building what Elon Musk envisioned as the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere — but the deal is proving to be a disastrous boondoggle for taxpayers, according to a report.
The 1.2 million-square-foot, quarter-mile-long “Tesla Gigafactory 2” is located in Buffalo, NY.
The state spent $959 million to build and equip it in one of the most costly ventures of its kind for the Empire State.
When New York’s then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved plans for the massive factory in 2013, he touted the project as a linchpin of the “clean energy revolution” that promised “to create 850 permanent jobs and at least 500 construction jobs.”
“You almost have to pinch yourself, right? That this is too good to be true,” Cuomo said at a construction ceremony for the factory in 2015.
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The suppliers Cuomo believed would flock to the manufacturing hub never showed up, and most workers who live on site are lower-paid, desk-bound data analysts working on other sectors of Tesla’s business, not its solar panel operation, according to the Journal.
So far, the only new business in the South Park area near the Gigafactory is a Tim Hortons.
The state paid to build and also owns the expensive industrial space, which it equipped with $240 million worth of solar panel manufacturing equipment.
However, Tesla’s cost for leasing the space is just $1 per year.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/07/elon-musks-1b-solar-panel-factory-in-ny-a-boondoggle-report/
