Gov. Jim Justice touted a cutting-edge battery factory coming to West Virginia as a historic opportunity. Meanwhile, a delegate from the region is asking more questions about the role of foreign investors.
The company is Form Energy, which develops energy storage systems. The plant proposed for Hancock County is meant to result in 750 jobs and is a $760 million project. Officials announced the development just before Christmas.
During an appearance in Wheeling on Friday, Governor Justice said the plant will be an anchor for economic development in the region.
“Can you imagine if Form Energy really — can you imagine what is getting ready to happen in Weirton?” Justice asked the crowd. “What is going to happen to Weirton?”
More expansively, he said, “What do you think these moves on the chessboard will really do to all of our communities? It’ll be unbelievable.”
Form Energy expects to start construction of its Weirton factory in 2023 and begin manufacturing iron-air battery systems in 2024 for broad commercialization.
The company says that it is “developing, manufacturing, and commercializing a new class of cost-effective, multi-day energy storage systems that will enable a reliable and fully renewable electric grid year-round.”
The company’s battery technology operates through a “reversible rusting” process. The battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to rust. When the battery charges, the reverse happens. An electrical current converts the rust back to iron, and the battery breathes out oxygen.
Public investments are part of the mix.
The West Virginia Economic Development Authority voted to allocate $75 million toward the purchase of land and the construction of buildings in Weirton. Another $215 million in allocations by the Legislature are also anticipated for the project.
The deal means West Virginia will own the building and land, and Form Energy will lease it back. The property would transfer to Form no sooner than five years and only if the company employs 750 workers. The deal calls for workers making at least $63,000 a year in average salary.
Among Form Energy’s financial backers is Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which includes celebrity investors like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Gates has touted the company’s work “creating a new class of batteries that would provide long-duration storage at a lower cost than lithium ion batteries.”
When Gates visited West Virginia earlier this month with Senator Joe Manchin, the joint appearance made clear that Form Energy will benefit significantly from incentives under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which lays out tax credits for battery storage and renewables for a decade.
So it’s a private development with major public resources.
Such developments are not always slam dunks. In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin blocked a proposed battery plant, a joint venture between the Ford Motor Company and a Chinese company. Youngkin has expressed concern about the Chinese involvement and said his decision was best for taxpayers. The number of jobs was 2,500.
State Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, sent a letter to Form Energy last week, wanting more information about the role of foreign investment in the West Virginia project. He had already written a separate letter to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Investment Review Section, raising concerns.
“As I am sure you understand, the authorization of public funds for the purpose of corporate subsidies is, of course, never a task to be taken lightly — especially when it pertains to new higher-risk startup ventures like Form Energy,” McGeehan wrote to Form Energy, asking for due diligence before the Legislature approves public support.
McGeehan, vice-chairman of the House Government Organization Committee and a former Air Force intelligence officer, cited his own research to question the role of investors with connections to China and Saudi Arabia.
He wrote:
“Given the gravity of these concerning relationships, along with the enormous magnitude of hundreds of millions of dollars in economic subsidies your startup corporation has solicited from the State of West Virginia, my office is requesting that you furnish certain information on these connections in order to help facilitate the due diligence necessary to determine the level of exposure your new venture may have with these foreign influences, foreign incentives and foreign interests — which may not only pose a hazard to our nation’s security, but may also carry hostility toward the long-standing values and traditions dearly held by the great people of West Virginia.