Last Week, in Personal Call to General Electric CEO, Schumer Pushes for GE to Manufacture Next-Generation Wind Turbine in New York and Create Hundreds of New Jobs; Senator Says Ge Could Help New York State Achieve Commitment to Develop 9,000 Megawatts of Offshore Wind Power by 2035 & Bring Green-Economy Jobs to Upstate NY

Press Release

After learning that General Electric (GE) is pursuing a site to manufacture their next-generation wind turbines to support the growing offshore wind industry in the United States, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer reached out directly to GE CEO, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., to express his support for GE to locate these manufacturing jobs for the new Haliade-X right here in New York. With GE poised to be a key supplier for the nation's major offshore wind installations along the Eastern Seaboard, "a GE investment in New York to build the next generation wind turbines would be a win-win-wind," said Schumer.

"GE's long history in the state, its investments here, and its thousands of existing workers make New York an ideal place for the company to build its wind turbines and continue to grow its leadership in green wind power development and manufacturing, which I relayed to GE CEO Larry Culp Jr.," said Senator Schumer. "Our world-class New York workforce is eager to get to build the future, and with New York's considerable capabilities for clean-energy manufacturing and its transportation infrastructure and deep water inland ports, like the Port of Albany, and other critical port infrastructure, it is tailor-made to help drive GE's goal of expanding its role in the green economy. GE will always be a New York company at heart, and I will do everything in my power to support their re-commitment to that home with a new investment in wind turbine manufacturing in the state."

Schumer, during his personal call to CEO Culp yesterday, plugged New York and conveyed his support of the company's potential interest in doubling down on their existing New York workforce, infrastructure, and investments by manufacturing their state-of-the-art Haliade-X wind turbines in the Empire State. The senator said choosing New York to manufacture GE's new wind turbines would be a win-win-win by creating hundreds of new green energy manufacturing jobs for the Upstate economy and helping the state achieve it's 9,000 megawatts from offshore wind by 2035 commitment, all while spinning GE's manufacturing capacity to new heights by tapping into New York's world-class workforce and port infrastructure. Additionally, with GE's 130-year history in New York, the senator argued that the company can leverage its existing New York facilities and knowledge of the state to provide a unique opportunity for long-term growth in the clean energy industry.

Schumer successfully pushed to include a provision to expand the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to qualifying offshore wind projects in the 2020 end-of-year omnibus package. Offshore wind projects will now be able to benefit from the ITC at the full 30% rate for projects that start construction from January 1, 2017 through the end of 2025. Establishing this long-term offshore wind tax incentive and providing greater certainty to the industry will help spur this important renewable energy technology and create good-paying manufacturing jobs in New York, including at companies like GE. The Investment Tax Credit allows companies to reduce their income taxes by 30 percent of their investment in a product, which helps defray the cost of switching over to the new technology.

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