SCHUMER ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL OPENING OF PLUG POWER’S NEW $125 MILLION VISTA TECH PARK FACTORY CREATING OVER 1,600 NEW GOOD-PAYING JOBS & FURTHER CEMENTING CAPITAL REGION AS GLOBAL CENTER FOR CLEAN ENERGY MANUFACTURING
Senator Says Plug Is a Great New York Success Story & New Factory Opening With Over A Thousand New Jobs Is The Culmination Of Years Of Work To Deliver Fed Support To Help Plug Grow In The Cap Region
Factory Opening Would Not Be Possible Without Investment Tax Credit Schumer Delivered in 2017 – And Schumer Says New Incentives In The Inflation Reduction Act And Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Supercharge Plug’s Future Growth
Schumer: Plug is POWERING UP Capital Region With 1,600 New Good-Paying Green Energy Jobs
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today cut the ribbon on Plug Power’s new $125 million green hydrogen fuel cell factory at the Vista Technology Park in Slingerlands. The new facility will create 1,600 new, good-paying jobs, on top of the over 1,400 Plug employees already in New York. Schumer said that Plug’s tremendous growth is the culmination of years of work to deliver the incentivizes and support needed for their expansion, and that today’s major milestone is only the beginning as the company establishes itself as a powerhouse in green energy, with the heart of its operations in the Capital Region.
“1,600 new, good-paying green energy jobs are about to power Plug’s future in the Capital Region. Almost exactly 7 years ago, I stood on the factory floor of Plug Power’s Latham facility, and CEO Andy Marsh promised me that if I could deliver the incentives they needed like the Investment Tax Credit, that we would be cutting ribbons for NY jobs in the decade — and today a promise made becomes a promise kept!” said Senator Schumer. “I applaud Plug for this major investment that will cement the Capital Region’s place as a global hub for innovation in clean energy. With the historic investments we just made in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to spark the hydrogen fuel cell industry, today’s new manufacturing facility comes at the perfect time to power America’s fight against climate change and new federal incentives position Plug to create even more New York jobs for years to come building the 21st century green hydrogen economy.”
“Plug is honored to host Sen. Schumer, Governor Hochul, and other advocates of green hydrogen at our Vista Technology Park Campus in our home state of New York,” said Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug. “Sen. Schumer was instrumental in the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended the Investment Tax Credit for fuel cells and enabled Plug’s development of the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology. This exciting expansion of Plug’s fuel cell manufacturing at Vista is critical for us to meet growing demand from our clients, such as Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, and others.”
The new 350,000 square foot location will manufacture Plug’s GenDrive fuel cell systems, which are used for electric motors in the mobility market. This expansion is critical for Plug to continue to service their major global supply chain clients such as Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, and others. The expansion at Vista also allows for growth of other business units at Plug’s Latham locations. The 1,600 new jobs in the Capital Region are expected within the next five years.
Schumer has long been leading the charge to help Plug expand in the Capital Region. Going back to 2016 when the company had 227 employees, Schumer personally visited and on the factory floor pledged to workers that he would fight to save and renew the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), with CEO Andy Marsh saying that it would help spur the business to expand like never before. Schumer was successful in his efforts, helping to make today’s announcement possible. Restoration of the ITC helped fuel tremendous growth at Plug, and today they employ over 1,100 employees in the Capital Region. During his 2016 visit, the senator also filled Plug’s one-millionth fuel cell, and since then, Plug has skyrocketed its production and today celebrates the 62 millionth fuel cell filling.
At the ribbon cutting, the senator also highlighted how major provisions he just secured in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help sustain Plug’s growth for years to come. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a new Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit, which boosts the exact kind of clean hydrogen made by Plug in New York State in a wide range of applications, like Plug’s zero-emissions fuel cells. Similarly, the Infrastructure Law included $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, and billions more for hydrogen research, development, and domestic supply chain expansion for electrolyzers and the kind of clean hydrogen production Plug does at their facilities in Rochester and STAMP in Western NY. The IRA also expanded and extended the clean energy investment tax credit, including a new allowance for standalone energy storage that experts predict will drive significant hydrogen deployment, and for fuel cells, the same one Schumer fought to renew in 2016 that enabled Plug to develop the first commercially viable market for fuel cells.
Schumer has a long record of assisting Plug’s development not just in the Capital Region, but also across Upstate New York. In 2020, Senator Schumer made a personal call to Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh pushing for the company to select Upstate New York for the site of its newest factory instead of a site in another state that was in contention. In December 2020, Schumer announced that Plug Power had heeded his call and selected Monroe County as the site for its new ‘gigafactory,’ a hydrogen fuel cell component R&D and manufacturing plant, bringing $125 million and nearly 380 jobs to the Finger Lakes region. The new ‘gigafactory’ will manufacture hydrogen fuel cell stacks and electrolyzers, which will be used to power a variety of electric vehicles and to generate power from renewable green hydrogen. Schumer has also strongly supported Plug Power’s $290 million plans at the Western NY STAMP site in Genesee County which is projected to be largest green hydrogen plant in North America.
About Plug
Plug is building an end-to-end green hydrogen ecosystem, from production, storage and delivery to energy generation, to help its customers meet their business goals and decarbonize the economy. In creating the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology, the company has deployed more than 60,000 fuel cell systems and over 185 fueling stations, more than anyone else in the world, and is the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen. Plug is building and operating a green hydrogen highway across North America and Europe, with a state-of-the-art Gigafactory to produce electrolyzers and fuel cells and multiple green hydrogen production plants that will yield 500 tons of liquid green hydrogen daily by 2025. Plug will deliver its green hydrogen solutions directly to its customers and through joint venture partners into multiple environments, including material handling, e-mobility, power generation, and industrial applications. For more information, visit www.plugpower.com.
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