Georgia state court rejects incentive plan for Rivian $5-billion plant

(Reuters) – Georgia state officials said on Monday they were disappointed after a local court rejected a joint proposal to secure local incentives for Rivian Automotive Inc’s $5-billion manufacturing plant in the state.

“We remain undeterred in our efforts to bring high-paying, American manufacturing jobs to Georgia, and are currently assessing all legal options,” the Joint Development Authority (JDA) of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton counties and Georgia Department of Economic Development said in a joint statement.

Morgan County Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell on Thursday rejected the agreement between the local development authority and the Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) Inc-backed EV company on grounds that the proposal did not appear feasible and failed to establish that it would promote the welfare of local communities.

A Rivian spokesperson declined to comment.

Rivian had announced in December its plans to set up the Georgia plant and had said at the time that it would be commissioned in 2024. The company has a plant in Normal, Illinois.

The Georgia plant, with a proposed capacity to produce 400,000 vehicles a year and an expected workforce of more than 7,500, would gain incentives of $1.5 billion from the state, Georgia’s Department of Economic Development had said in May.

The development comes as Rivian faces hurdles to secure tax incentives for many of its current models under the new energy and climate bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

The company said in August that it expected a wider-operating loss this year, but kept its target to produce 25,000 vehicles.

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