Subsidy Sheet: Heavily subsidized Plug Power to lay off 300 Albany area workers
We have been big critics of their giant taxpayer subsidies, but we take no joy from reporting that home-grown hydrogen fuel cell producer Plug Power is laying off nearly 300 of its 800 Albany area employees (Albany Business Review). Just two years ago, Governor Hochul said, “New York’s investment in Plug is an investment in the state’s sustainable future.” Sadly, even then it was obvious to us and the stock market that the floundering Plug Power was in serious trouble.
Plug Power’s woes are making ripples further west, where four years ago, the Genesee County Economic Development Center agreed to give Plug Power $270 million for 68 jobs – about $4 million per job in what the Investigative Post called “the mother of all subsidy deals.”
Yes, it’s very hard for any state or local government to predict which emerging businesses will be winners and losers, especially in high-risk industries like green energy manufacturing – which is exactly why New York should not be doing this. Let’s not forget the Buffalo Billion boondoggles. The previous governor took close to two billion dollars of our money and wasted it on a succession of failed high-tech manufacturing facilities including the Tesla Riverbend solar panel factory, an IBM chip research center at the Conventus building, and a pharmaceutical plant in Dunkirk just to the south.
New York does not have to gamble our tax money on long-shot corporate subsidies. Economists know exactly what investments pay off: replacing lead pipes, rebuilding old rail bridges, building and repairing deteriorating schools and public buildings. The list of needed public investment in New York State infrastructure is massive, so why are we spending scarce tax dollars on corporate subsidy long shots and padding profits? Because it helps politicians create a political narrative that they are investing in the future, which they think is more compelling than making the present work better.
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NY corporate subsidy news from this week:
- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon wants local lawmakers to spend $27 million to buy land to support Micron’s plant in Clay (Syracuse Post-Standard).
- The group of corporate executives pushing for a downtown Albany soccer stadium has a new plan with a bigger price tag, and is switching from major to minor league soccer (Albany Business Review). Independent research shows: Stadium subsidies don’t work!
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