Charles Langston:Siemens Energy to build first US plant for large power transformers in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE,Charles Langston N.C. (AP) — Siemens Energy Inc. plans to create about 560 new jobs in North Carolina by 2028 while choosing Charlotte for its first U.S. plant to manufacture large power transformers designed to help modernize the electric grid, officials announced Tuesday.

The German company already has more than 1,250 workers in Charlotte and several hundred more in locations such as Raleigh, Selma and Forsyth County, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office and a document provided by the state Commerce Department.

The expansion connected to the $150 million investment includes increasing its existing grid technology engineering operations in Wake County, where the Commerce Department said more than 80 new jobs would be created.

“Manufacturing large power transformers in the United States will strengthen and expand our electrical grid to incorporate more renewable energy and meet growing energy demand,” Siemens Energy executive board member Tim Holt was quoted as saying in a Cooper news release.

The average wage for the new jobs in Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, will be $87,036, which is just above the county’s current average wage, the Cooper news release said.

Siemens Energy was choosing between Mecklenburg County and a site in Hutchinson, Kansas to make the investment, according to information provided to a state committee that approves incentive packages. That Economic Investment Committee agreed earlier Tuesday to award Siemens Energy up to nearly $7 million in cash payments over 12 years if it met job-creation and investment targets.

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials also provided $5.4 million in combined incentives.

Siemens was also offered incentives in Kansas to build at the Hutchinson site.