Indiana county council woos GM for battery plant project

An Indiana county council on Tuesday evening approved tax incentives for a $3.5 billion battery plant investment by General Motors Co. and battery partner Samsung SDI.

The St. Joseph County Council unanimously approved a development agreement and tax abatements for the project that would be the largest seen in the area if the companies decide to select the northern Indiana site for GM’s fourth battery cell plant.

In September, GM received approval for tax incentives with its other battery partner, LG Energy Solution, for a New Carlisle, Ind., plant, but GM and LG halted their plans in January. Ultium Cells LLC, the joint venture between GM and LG, already operates a battery plant in Warren, Ohio, and is constructing two additional factories in Michigan’s Delta Township and Spring Hill, Tenn.

In a statement following the council’s approval, GM spokesperson Liz Winter said: “We appreciate the local support as the joint venture works to make a location decision.”

The council’s approval amends project-related documents to make General Motors LLC the owner of the proposed battery plant instead of Ultium Cells.

“Once we make the decision to make the investment, once we make a decision if we’re going to invest here in St. Joseph County, we hope to start construction yet this year with a very aggressive timeline,” GM Director of Local Government Relations John Blanchard told the council.

When asked if GM expects the plant to last 25 years, Blanchard said he hopes “with the amount of investment and commitment that we’ve made” that this plant and other battery plants last longer than 25 years.

“We need battery capacity to be able to supply all of our electric vehicles,” Blanchard said, adding the automaker is looking for battery plant sites 5 and 6 already.

“We think this is the beginning of the expansion of the all-electric future, so it’s critical to the operations of the company,” Blanchard said.

The cost of the New Carlisle plant with Samsung would be more than the roughly $2.5 billion plant originally planned by Ultium Cells. It’s also larger, with 3 million square feet across two buildings instead of 2 million square feet, but still on 680 acres.

The proposed plant outside of South Bend is expected to create 1,600 jobs. The council was told the wage rate would be $24 per hour, which is an average of hourly and salaried workers.

The property is in New Carlisle, which is 20 minutes west of South Bend near the Michigan border. It’s inside the Indiana Enterprise Center and has access to rail and is near interstates, according to a description on St. Joseph County’s website.

If the New Carlisle site is selected, the project would start in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the information provided to the council at Tuesday’s meeting. It would be finalized by December 2027.

GM and Samsung last month announced their plans to operate jointly GM’s fourth battery plant in North America, saying it would be an investment of more than $3 billion, have capacity for up to 30 gigawatt hours and be running in 2026. At the time, the company did not disclose a location for the plant.

The council approved 100% tax abatements for real-estate property for 10 years and for tangible personal property for 15 years, up from the percentages offered to Ultium Cells. In exchange, GM would pay a $4.5 million infrastructure fee per year for 10 years to cover costs for sewer extensions, road improvements and new fiber optic cables.

It’s estimated that the total net savings for the 15 years of the abatement will be about $332.9 million, St. Joseph County Economic Development Director Bill Schalliol told The Detroit News.

Brock Herr, senior vice president of business development for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, spoke in favor of the project at Tuesday’s meeting: “We’re excited about this potential opportunity, and we continue to work diligently with the company.”

“We think this is the beginning of the expansion of the all-electric future so it’s critical to the operations of the company.”

— John Blanchard, GM Director of Local Government Relations