< Previous122 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Corporate facility investment: $18,160,168,493 Jobs created: 26,474 Population & Territory: 10,912,876 in 155 of the state’s 159 counties, which includes more than 2.7 million customers Highlights: Major wins included Qcells’ $2 billion, 2,000-job solar module investment in Cartersville; a 1,400-job, $750 million manufactured building and home products facilitiy from Finland’s ADMARES; a $4 billion investment from data center developer QTS in three mammoth facilities in metro Atlanta; and life sciences manufacturer Meissner’s $250 million, microfi ltration and therapeutics manufacturing facility in Athens that will create nearly 1,800 new jobs. Led by South Korea due in large part to Hyundai’s EV supplier e orts to support its “metaplant” near Savannah, foreign-based companies represented 40% of total locations in 2023, 44% of jobs and 41% of capital investment. Driven by EVs and clean energy, “2023 was the second-best year on record for Georgia Power Economic Development,” says the utility, as the team also met “soaring demand for data center investment … 2023 proved to be a year focused on continued momentum to meet the site, energy, and workforce needs of these megaprojects.” One asset helping in that quest was the delivery of the fi rst newly constructed nuclear unit to be built in the United States in over three decades, Plant Vogtle Unit 3, which was followed by Unit 4 in April 2024. Georgia Power Atlanta, Georgia Jennifer Zeller, S S M www.selectgeorgia.com SOU TH AT LA NT IC Corporate facility investment: $2,313,370,000 Jobs created: 1,953 Population & Territory: 1.6 million in South Carolina Highlights: Project wins last year included QTS Data Centers’ $1 billion investment in York County; FN America’s 176-job, $33 million project in Pickens County; and Latitude Corp.’s 200-job, $29 million investment in Clarendon County. All in all, new projects added 700 megawatts of new electric load to the system. “Highlights for 2023 include continued implementation of our Upskill Incentive to o set training costs for commercial members investing in new equipment requiring existing employees to learn new skills,” says James Chavez. “We approved eight Upskill Incentive grants in 2023 totaling over $95,000. We work with local community leaders to foster an understanding of their role in economic development, build support for growth and develop local workforce strategies. In 2023, we hosted these workshops in fi ve di erent counties in South Carolina. In addition, we have committed signifi cant resources to site development through our Site Advancement Fund and through our Site Readiness Fund which commits at least $6 million annually to fully develop industrial properties. To date, our $63 million SRF commitment has leveraged more than $224 million in matching dollars.” Three 2023 project announcements occurred on SRF sites, accounting for $1.87 billion in capital investment and 137 new jobs. South Carolina Power Team Columbia, South Carolina James A. Chavez, P CEO www.scpowerteam.com SOU TH AT LA NT IC Corporate facility investment: $ 22,434,800,000 Jobs created: 15,047 Population & Territory: 25 million across 90,000 square miles of service area in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Highlights: “Duke Energy remains committed to delivering a ordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy to the communities it serves, which are some of the fastest growing areas of the country,” says Stu Heishman. “As the energy landscape continues to change in remarkable ways, this next decade represents a critical execution phase in the energy transition. The company’s generation transition is well underway, and its system is changing and expanding — doubling its capacity over the next decade — to deliver on its ambitious targets … In the last 12 months, Duke Energy has delivered on value with an infl ux of new economic development wins, including manufacturing and technology projects. The company has fi led an updated Carolinas Resource Plan, a proposed roadmap for North Carolina and South Carolina to deliver clean energy through an ‘all of the above’ approach that does not compromise grid reliability, energy a ordability or the energy demands of a growing region.” In 2023, the company also announced plans to build and operate the nation’s fi rst solar-to-100% hydrogen-fi red turbine in DeBary, Florida. Duke Energy Charlotte, North Carolina Stu Heishman, V P, E D www.locationdukeenergy.com SOU TH AT LA NT IC124 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Corporate facility investment: $1,865,000,000 Jobs created: 6,326 Population & Territory: More than 12 million in 43 counties across the state Highlights: Projects included two manufacturing sites in northwest Florida expected to employ 550 people and attract a combined $75 million from Central Moloney, Inc., a manufacturer of distribution transformers and transformer components. Other projects came from Leonardo Helicopters in Milton and Plant Agricultural Systems, which is building a 600-job, $750 million hydroponic farm in Baker County. In addition to its project attraction work, in 2023 FPL completed the launch of its “WonderFL” regional website, part of a talent attraction campaign. “Each regional site promotes the unique work/ life balance, employment opportunities and quality of life found there,” writes Cathy Chambers. “All funding for the statewide and regional sites is provided by FPL. The statewide site serves as a funnel to direct new transplants, potential boomerangs and remote workers to regional WonderFL sites. The statewide site includes a cost-of-living calculator, an interactive regional map, information on housing, education, and employers, as well as information for entrepreneurs and veterans. Each regional site includes specifi c information about local communities, culture, dining, housing, schools and more.” Florida in October 2023 repeated as the No. 1 state for talent attraction in the Lightcast 2023 talent attraction scorecard. Florida Power & Light (FPL) Juno Beach, Florida Cathy Chambers, D, E D www.poweringfl orida.com SOU TH AT LA NT IC Corporate facility investment: $ 33,360,000,000 Jobs created: 5,158 Population & Territory: 7,718,110 across 63 counties in Arkansas, 58 parishes in Louisiana, 45 counties in Mississippi and 27 counties in Texas Highlights: Entergy Louisiana’s recruiting e ort in 2023 led to 65 qualifi ed leads and fi ve active projects. ”Entergy Texas has implemented new internal mapping capabilities to identify areas of load growth, thereby realizing possibilities in other markets where opportunities may exist,” writes Shantel Johnson. “Using this information, we have been able to identify sites that may be ideally situated to serve future customers with minimal upgrades as well as exclude sites that require signifi cant system improvements.” Meanwhile, “Entergy Louisiana and Texas partnered together to target six international companies through a foreign direct investment initiative with Research On Investment,” resulting in two strong leads. Entergy Arkansas partnered with the Metro Little Rock Alliance in their central Arkansas site search, including evaluation and ranking of Entergy-served sites. Entergy Arkansas also issued grants for site development and/or recertifi cation for a site at the Port of Little Rock, the Wynne Hwy 1 Site and the West Memphis Mega Site. After adding fi ve new sites in 2023, Louisiana now has 145 certifi ed sites of which 116 are certifi ed within Entergy’s service territory. Entergy Mississippi awarded fi ve economic development organizations with Excellerator Competitive Communities Grants, bringing the program’s lifetime contribution to $587,000 across 20 counties. Entergy Corporation New Orleans, Louisiana Shantel Johnson, S M, E C goentergy.com SOU TH CE NT RA L Corporate facility investment: $6,093,833,980 Jobs created: $6,430 new jobs Population & Territory: 1.7 million customers across the greater eastern one- third of Kansas and Western Missouri Highlights: “We drafted legislation for a new program o ering in 2023. It has come to fruition in 2024,” writes Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade. “The Evergy service area has become a hotspot for data centers, EV/battery supply chain and advanced technology facilities. We are committed to the journey of fi nding smart solutions to attract, expand and retain these industries. Thus, the Eco devo team went on a listening tour to better understand our community assets for said projects and took a deep dive to understand our generation and infrastructure capacity needs. Evergy built a coalition of economic developers throughout Kansas to help pass legislation allowing us to build new generation facilities for future projects, respond quicker to investment needs in our local communities and strengthen our large user economic development program. By bringing stakeholders together to create a path forward we are leading the charge to bring business to our communities. Internally, we have kicked o a process to examine ways of making sure that we can meet the power demands and needs of the large data center boom. By preparing innovative solutions and commonsense rules that appeal to data centers and our communities, we can build on our successes of landing major data centers.” Evergy Kansas City, Missouri Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade, M, E D EvergyED.com W EST NOR TH CE NT RA L126 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Corporate facility investment: $13.2 billion $25,761,450,000 Jobs created: 3,000 8,813 Population & Territory: 2.7 million across 11 of the Arizona’s 15 counties. Highlights: In 2023, APS Economic Development partnered with Next Move Group to provide tools for communities to address multifaceted economic development needs such as prospecting, talent attraction, building and site development, and board training. Next Move Group’s services are available free of charge to local communities as a resource, courtesy of APS. APS continues to o er SizeUp Arizona and Arizona Prospector as valuable resources for local stakeholders. SizeUp Arizona provides small-to-medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs around the state with the market research and data analytics necessary to better understand competition and fi ne-tune their business model for success APS has partnered with the Arizona Commerce Authority to provide the statewide license for Arizona Prospector, a commercial real estate database that provides up-to-date community and region specifi c data on labor force, demographics, education levels and more as well as available building and sites for commercial use. Arizona Public Service Phoenix, Arizona Kelly Patton, E D M www.aps.com SO UT HWE ST Corporate facility investment: $421 million Jobs created: 1,834 Population & Territory: 1,098,541 in a 10,000-square-mile from Van Horn, Texas, to Hatch, New Mexico (El Paso-Las Cruces CSA) Highlights: Among more than 20 projects in the region were a nearly $300 million investment from EDF Renewables in Santa Teresa, New Mexico; a 350-job o ce from KECH and a 300-job o ce from Sentry Insurance in El Paso; and the 770-job HQ of Electronic Caregiver in Las Cruces. “The creation of the New Mexico Economic Development Fund and the Texas Economic Development Fund through a $100 million commitment to the El Paso Electric service territory over the next 20 years has proven pivotal to projects,” writes Eric Montgomery. “The funds are independently and locally controlled and provide locating and expanding companies added incentive assistance. In both states, these funds have been the catalyst to closing deals when traditional state incentives were unavailable for companies, fi lling a gap in our region’s economic development plans.” The utility, long considered one of the most reliable investor-owned utilities in Texas, is also doubling down on renewable power deployment. “We have ‘cut the ribbon’ on the largest solar and battery storage facility in New Mexico with approximately 450,000 panels stretching almost 2 square miles,” Montgomery says. “We have more renewable options coming online in the next two years to support the growing interest for green and carbon- free power options demanded by our customers and locating companies.” El Paso Electric El Paso, Texas Eric Montgomery, D E D G A www.epelectric.com SOU TH CE NT RA L Corporate facility investment: $2,224,000,000 Jobs created: 3,134 Population & Territory: 2 million across central Arizona Highlights: SRP Economic Development o ers a seminar series on the topics of water and power infrastructure geared at educating and empowering its partners to be ambassadors for the region and SRP. “The better the cities understand water and power infrastructure the better SRP and the communities can work together to address future challenges,” says Karla Moran. “In 2023, a total of four seminars were o ered.” In 2022, SRP launched the fi rst cohort of the SRP Sustainable Cities Program, which was completed in 2023. This program recognizes Arizona cities that exemplify these traits and continue to push their sustainability e orts forward. “SRP Sustainable Cities are key in the continued economic development of the Valley of the Sun,” Moran writes. “Businesses and site selectors seek out communities that aren’t just looking toward the future but are actively planning for it.” (For more, see the Greater Phoenix Intelligence Report in this issue.) Salt River Project Tempe, Arizona Karla Moran, M, E D www.powertogrowphx.com SO UT HWE ST128 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N UTILITIES UTILITY DIRECTORY The boxed entries are current and past year advertisers. ALABAMA Alabama Power Econ. & Community Development 600 North 18th St. Birmingham, AL 35203 Blair King, Dir., Bus. Dev. 205.257.2138 https://www. amazingalabama.com PowerSouth 770 Washington Ave. Ste. 170 Montgomery, AL 36104 Taylor Williams, V.P. Of External A airs https://www.powersouth. com/economic-development Southeast Gas 445 Dexter Ave., Fifth Fl. Montgomery, AL 36104 Vince Perez, Dir. Econ. Dev. 205.478.6502 https://southeastgas.com/growth Tennessee Valley Authority 400 W. Summit Hill Dr. Knoxville, TN 37902 Heidi Smith, Gen. Mgr., Global Bus. 615.232.6225 http://TVAsites.com ALASKA Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. 5601 Tonsgard Ct. Juneau, AK 99801 Lori Sowa, V.P., Dir. of Energy Services & Metering 907.759.5903 https://www.aelp.com ARIZONA Arizona Public Service Co. Box 53999 M/S 8010 400 N. 5th St., 6th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85004 Kelly Patton, Sr. Econ. Dev. Consultant 602.250.3613 https://www.aps.com SRP Electric Salt River Project 1521 N. Project Drive Tempe, AZ 85281 Karla Moran, Econ. Dev. Project Mgr. 602.236.2396 https://www. powertogrowphx.com UNS Energy Corp. I Tucson Electric Power I UniSour http://www.tep.com ARKANSAS Entergy Arkansas 425 W. Capitol Ave. 27 Little Rock, AR 72201 Danny Games, Dir. Bus. & Econ. Dev. 501.377.4474 https://goentergy.com CALIFORNIA PG&E 77 Beale St. San Francisco, CA 94105 Patricia Poppe, CEO 415.973.1000 https://www.pge.comw SMUD https://www.smud.org Southern California Edison https://www.sce.com COLORADO Xcel Energy 1800 Larimer St., 16th Floor Denver, CO 80202 Thomas Bailey, Area V.P., Commercial & Industrial Solutions 812.305.6754 https://www. economicdevelopment. xcelenergy.com CONNECTICUT Eversource 56 Prospect St. Hartford, CT 06103 888.544.4826 https://www.eversource.com DELAWARE Delmarva Power & Light Co. 500 N. Wakefi eld Dr., Fl. 2 Newark, DE 19702 J. Tyler Anthony, Pres./CEO 302.454.0300 https://www.delmarva.com DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Potomac Electric Power Co. 701 9th St. NW, Ste. 3 Washington, DC 20001 Ayana Rockett 202.872.2000 https://www.pepco.com FLORIDA Duke Energy 452 E. Crown Point Rd. Mail Code WG-13 Winter Garden, FL 34787 Mark Hoenstine, Managing Dir. Econ. Dev. 407.905.3443 https://www.duke-energy. com/partner-with-us/ economic-development S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 129 Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy, Inc. 700 Universe Blvd. CEA-JB Juno Beach, FL 33408 Cathy Chambers, Sr. Dir. Econ. Dev. https://www. poweringfl orida.com GEORGIA Atlanta Gas Light https://www.atlantagaslight. com Electric Cities of Georgia https://https://ecoga.org Georgia Electric Membership Corp. https://georgiaemc.com Georgia Power 75 Fifth St., NW, #150 Atlanta, GA 30308 Charlie Moseley, Mgr. Statewide Econ. Dev. 404.506.3432 https://www.selectgeorgia.com MEAG Power 1470 Riveredge Parkway NW Atlanta, GA 30328 Paul Warfel, V.P., Participant & External A airs 678.644.3523 https://www.meagpower.org Tennessee Valley Authority 400 W. Summit Hill Dr. Knoxville, TN 37902 Heidi Smith, Gen. Mgr., Global Bus. 615.232.6225 http://TVAsites.com HAWAII Hawaiian Electric Industries 1001 Bishop St. Ste. 2900 Honolulu, HI 96813 Shelee Kimura, Pres./CEO 808.543.5662 https://www. hawaiianelectric.com IDAHO Idaho Power Co. 1221 W. Idaho St. Boise, ID 83702 Megan Ronk, Bus. Innovation & Dev. Dir. 208.388.6043 http://idahopower.com/ econdev ILLINOIS Ameren Illinois 10 Richard Mark Way Collinsville, IL 62234 Eric Whitfi eld, Dir. Econ. Dev. 314.422.7549 https://www.ameren.com130 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N ComEd Three Lincoln Centre, 3rd Fl. Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Ed Sitar, Sr. Mgr., Econ. Dev. 779.231.0116 https://www.comed.com/ econdev Nicor, Inc. 1844 Ferry Road Naperville, Il 60563 Thomas Stovall, Mgr., Econ. Dev. 312.859.7526 https://www.nicorgas.com INDIANA Duke Energy Midwest 1000 E. Main St. Plainfi eld, IN 48168 Erin Schneider, Managing Dir., Econ. Dev. 317.838.1069 https://www.duke-energy. com/partner-with-us/ economic-development Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Co-op. 2501 South Cooperative Way Bloomington, IN 47403 Harold Gutzwiller, Mgr. Econ. Dev. 812.876.2021 https://www.hoosierenergy.com Indiana Michigan Power https://www. indianamichiganpower.com Indiana Municipal Power Agency 11610 North College Ave. Carmel, IN 46032 Jack Alvey, Pres./CEO 317.573.9955 https://www.impa.com/ economicdevelopment Northern Indiana Public Service Company 801 East 86th Ave Merrillville, IN 46410 Diane Thalmann, Mgr. Bus. Dev. 219.647.5134 https://www.nipsco.com IOWA Alliant Energy Midwest Sites 200 1st Street S.E. Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Dennis Jordan, Dir. of Customer, Cmty. & Econ. Dev. 319.270.5086 https://www.alliantenergy.com MidAmerican Energy Co. https://www. midamericanenergy.com KANSAS EVERGY 1200 Main Street, 30th Fl. Kansas City, MO 64105 Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade Sr. Econ. Dev. Mgr. 816.471.5275 https://www.evergyed.com KENTUCKY AEP Kentucky Power Co. 1545 Winchester Ave. Ashland, KY 41101 https://www.aep.com Duke Energy Midwest 1000 E. Main St. Plainfi eld, IN 48168 Erin Schneider, Managing Dir., Econ. Dev. 317.838.1069 https://www.duke-energy. com/partner-with-us/ economic-development Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Powered by East Kentucky Power Co-Op. Box 707 4775 Lexington Road Winchester, KY 40391 Brad Thomas, Econ. Dev. Assoc. Mgr. 859.595.6251 https://www.dataispower.org S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 131 LG&E and KU Energy 220 W. Main St. Louisville, KY 40202 Roxann Fry, CEcd Lead Econ. Dev. Mgr. 502.627.4955 https://lge-ku.com Tennessee Valley Authority 400 W. Summit Hill Dr. Knoxville, TN 37902 Heidi Smith, Gen. Mgr., Global Bus. 615.232.6225 http://TVAsites.com LOUISIANA Cleco Power, LLC Box 5000 Pineville, LA 71360 Richard Cornelison, Dir. Regional Growth & Econ. Dev. 318.484.4609 https://www.cleco.com Entergy Louisiana 446 North Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Eduardo ‘Ed’ Jimenez, V.P. Bus. & Econ. Dev. 225.339.3233 https://goentergy.com Entergy New Orleans 1600 Perdido St. Bldg. 505 New Orleans, LA 70112 Taurus Wright Dir. Bus. & Econ. Dev 601.620.1008 https://goentergy.com Southwestern Electric Power Co. https://www.swepco.com MAINE Versant Power 21 Telecom Dr. Bangor, ME 04401 John Flynn, Pres. 207.973.2000 https://www.versantpower.com MARYLAND Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. 7225 Windsor Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21244 Carim Khouzami, Pres./CEO 410.234.5000 https://www.bge.com MASSACHUSETTS Eversource 247 Station Drive Westwood, MA 02090 800.286.5000 https://www.eversource.com MICHIGAN Consumers Energy 1 Energy Plaza, EP8.434 Jackson, MI 49201 Valerie Christo erson, Dir. Econ Dev. 517.788.1239 https://www.cmsenergy.com DTE Energy One Energy Plaza 1246 WCB Detroit, MI 48226 Khalil Rahal, Mgr. Econ. Dev. 313.235.9678 https://dteenergy.com Xcel Energy 1800 Larimer St., 16th Floor Denver, CO 80202 Thomas Bailey, Area V.P., Comm. & Ind. Solutions 812.305.6754 https://www. economicdevelopment. xcelenergy.com MINNESOTA Connexus Energy 14601 Ramsey Blvd. Ramsey, MN 55303 Bruce Sayler, Principal Cmty. & Econ. Dev. 763.323.2600 https://www. connexusenergy.com Xcel Energy 1800 Larimer St., 16th Floor Denver, CO 80202 Thomas Bailey, Area V.P., Comm. & Ind. Solutions 812.305.6754 https://www. economicdevelopment. xcelenergy.com MISSISSIPPI Entergy Mississippi 308 E. Pearl St. Jackson, MS 39215 Ed Gardner, Jr., Dir. Bus. & Econ. Dev. 601.937.0587 https://goentergy.com Mississippi Power Co. https://www. mississippipower.com Tennessee Valley Authority 400 W. Summit Hill Dr. Knoxville, TN 37902 Heidi Smith, Gen. Mgr., Global Bus. 615.232.6225 http://TVAsites.com MISSOURI Ameren Missouri 1901 Chouteau Ave. Saint Louis, MO 63166 Rob Dixon, Sr. Dir., Econ., Cmty., and Bus. Dev. 573.256.9418 https://www.ameren.com Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. https://www.aeci.org EVERGY 1200 Main Street, 30th Fl. Kansas City, MO 64105 Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade Sr. Econ. Dev. Mgr. 816.471.5275 https://www.evergyed.com MONTANA NorthWestern Energy Corp. 6700 Rainbow Dam Rd. Great Falls, MT 59404 Mike Nicola, Project Supervisor 406.268.2326 https://www. northwesternenergy.com NEBRASKA Nebraska Public Power District 1414 15th St. Columbus, NE 68602 Nicole Sedlacek, Econ. Dev. Mgr. 402.563.5534 https://sites.nppd.com Omaha Public Power District 444 S. 16th St. Mall, 2E/EP2 Omaha, NE 68102 Devin Meisinger, Mgr. Econ. Dev. 531.226.3729 https://www.oppd.com/ business/economic- developmentNext >