11/12/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/13/2021 15:18
Senator Says Plug Power Is a Great New York Success Story & Pledges Support For Company's Further Expansion, Secures Fed Funding From the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Deal And More
Plug Power Is Sparking Growth In The Local Economy, Creating New Green-Energy Jobs, And Jolting Fuel Cell Manufacturing To New Heights
Schumer:Infrastructure Deal Is The PLUG That Plug Power Needs To POWER Up, Grow, & Create Jobs
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced that after his continued advocacy and support, Plug Power has officially opened its new, $125 million Innovation Center in Monroe County. Last year 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.
The new factory 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 said the new Hydrogen Fuel Cell Innovation Center is a win-win creating hundreds of new green energy manufacturing jobs for the Upstate economy while also jolting Plug Power's manufacturing capacity to new heights by tapping into New York's world-class workforce.
"I'm ecstatic that Plug Power heeded my call to make Monroe County the home of its new Hydrogen Fuel Cell Innovation Center 'Gigafactory'. Rochester's powerhouse workforce pioneered cutting-edge hydrogen fuel cell technology and can now help drive Plug Power's revolutionary clean energy technology to new heights," said Senator Schumer. "Nearly 380 new clean energy jobs will now supercharge Rochester, positioning the region as a global hub in the green economy. With an unprecedented $9.5 billion federal investment that I just secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to expand the hydrogen fuel cell industry and billions of dollars in additional investment for clean technology that I'm fighting for in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill, the Gigafactory's opening today comes at the perfect time to power up even more Rochester jobs and growth at Plug Power to jumpstart the 21st century green hydrogen economy."
Schumer has been leading the charge to help Plug Power expand not only in Rochester, but throughout Upstate NY as well. Earlier this year the senator called on the Department of Energy to support Plug Power's newly proposed plan to construct a $290 million hydrogen facility at the Western NY STAMP site in Genesee county and personally visited the site in September. Plug Power's new production facility at STAMP would produce green hydrogen to supply fuel-cell-powered equipment and vehicles such as freight transportation and logistics handling equipment - some powered by fuel cells that will be manufactured at the newly opened gigafactory.
"Plug Power is grateful to host U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer at our state-of-the-art hydrogen and fuel cell Innovation Center Gigafactory, here in Rochester, New York," said Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power. "The support of SenatorSchumer continues to play a key role in helping to bring affordable green hydrogen to the market, while Plug Power expands the clean hydrogen and fuel cell ecosystem in our state. We commend him for his recently secured $9.5 billion federal investment to expand the hydrogen and fuel cell industry in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which could support Plug Power in creating good-paying green jobs in Monroe County, New York."
Schumer further explained the recently bicamerally passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes critical new investments in Hydrogen fuel and clean energy. Schumer said the visionary package of billions in new clean hydrogen energy investments comes at the perfect time to power up new jobs and growth at Plug Power.
Schumer highlighted several of these new investments that will potentially aide Plug Power including:
Schumer also outlined other wins for the Finger Lakes region in the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. The region will benefit from:
###