The $4 billion Panasonic battery factory in De Soto should have been a first-of-a-kind project for Kansas and the Midwest.
In addition to the estimated 4,000 new jobs coming to town, Panasonic and the state expected another 4,000 jobs to come from suppliers they anticipated would move to Kansas to provide additional goods and materials the plant would need for its operations.
And in 2024, there was momentum based on growing demand for electric vehicles and low-cost renewable energy to have this kind of growth replicated in states throughout the Midwest.
Now, the incentive programs that attracted Panasonic to Kansas are jeopardized by the Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy, and the De Soto plant may be the last of its kind.
Already, more than $14 billion in new energy projects (and the loss of 10,000 potential new jobs because of it) have been canceled or delayed as spending on new projects is paused.
Attracting what will be the largest battery factory in the world to the heart of the Midwest required big incentives — including more than $800 million from the state and the promise of billions in tax incentives from the federal government.
These batteries are intended to support the growing domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles and expansion of low-cost renewables for utilities that are experiencing load growth for the first time in decades as a result of the AI boom.
The incentive programs were crafted to ensure that America could remain competitive in a 21st-century global economy that will increasingly be electrified and powered by clean generation from geothermal, nuclear, solar and wind energy, with batteries as the backup. And importantly, the benefits of these incentives in the form of new manufacturing plants and well-paid manufacturing jobs would be shared across America.
‘Saudi Arabia of wind energy’
The Midwest has been dubbed the Saudi Arabia of wind energy. Five Midwest states rank among the Top 10 nationwide for the percentage of total state electricity consumption that is generated by renewables.
Notably, Kansas stands out at No. 3, with renewable energy producing enough energy to meet 74% of the state’s electricity consumption.
