Tesla won more than $330 million in tax breaks from Nevada on Friday for the company’s commitment to a massive expansion of its sprawling vehicle battery facility east of Reno, including the construction of a new electric semi-truck factory.
The approval from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development comes as Gov. Joe Lombardo touts the benefits of good-paying jobs and a boost to the local economy around Tesla’s sprawling Gigafactory.
“Tesla has exceeded all the promises it made back in 2014,” said Lombardo, a Republican who serves as chairman of the elected board, education and business officials.
The deal is the latest to mark Northern Nevada as a focal point in the US transition to green energy, as the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden seeks to phase out gas-powered vehicles in the fight against climate change.
Lombardo took office in January and has proposed a two-year state budget of $11 billion. He tweeted a photo of himself January 24 with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the industrial park east of Reno-Sparks and called the pending agreement “an incredible investment in our country.” Musk also owns Twitter and the rocket company SpaceX.
However, the $330 million figure remained confidential until Monday due to a nondisclosure agreement between Tesla and state officials.
That prompted complaints from some lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature about having only three days to review the 20-year-old tax cuts.
“There has been little or no opportunity to explore how this deal could affect the supply of housing, public schools, public safety, and other important government services in the region,” said Sen. Neal’s day in confession. The Democrat from North Las Vegas is the chairman of the chamber’s Revenue and Economic Development Committee. Neal did not immediately respond Thursday to a message seeking further comment.
Lombardo’s statement said Tesla had spent $6.2 billion on the 5.4 million square foot (501,676 square meter) Gigafactory, which the governor said would provide 17,000 construction jobs and more than 11,000 “high-paying permanent jobs.”
The Tesla project will create another $3.6 billion in capital investment, creating 3,000 new jobs at an average hourly rate of $33.49 with health insurance for 91% of employees.
The company plans to add 4 million square feet (371,612 square meters) of production space at two new plants in the Truckee-Reno Industrial Center, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Reno-Sparks on Interstate 80.
One plant will have the capacity to produce batteries for 1.5 million light vehicles per year, the company said. The other will have Tesla’s first production line for electric combination trucks. Musk said the goal is a battery range of 500 miles (805 kilometers) while towing an 82,000-pound (37,000 kilogram) load.
Public support for the deal came from the White House and Mitch Landrieu, Biden’s infrastructure chief; from the University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval, a Republican who as governor of Nevada approved the initial $1.3 billion Tesla abatement deal in 2014; and a preschool on the factory site that said it would expand its hours to accommodate workers.
Three lawmakers elected in rural Storey County, where the Tesla factory is located, praised the economic benefits for the area. But they said the county’s only 4,100 permanent residents deserve more tax revenue to support infrastructure and services including police, fire and EMS.
Tom Burns, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said Tesla’s Gigafactory has boosted the state’s manufacturing industry and made lithium-ion batteries the nation’s eighth-largest export.
A Nevada-based recycling plant for electric vehicle batteries won a $2 billion green energy loan from the Biden administration in February.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court refused to block the construction of the largest lithium mine in the US, which will be dug in Northern Nevada, while the court considered claims by conservationists and tribes that the government has approved the rapid production. raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.
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