Keller: We’re excited for solar expansions, but want to see ‘that shovel in the ground’

Mayor Tim Keller on Tuesday expressed optimism when speaking to legislators about Maxeon Solar Technologies’ and Ebon Solar’s expansions at Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol, saying if the companies pull through, it could “transform central New Mexico.”

But the Albuquerque mayor also expressed some skepticism, saying “we’ve been burned” before with past expansions that didn’t materialize in the city.

The remarks, given to legislators on the Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee, come as the companies plan to massively transform Albuquerque’s jobs ecosystem — and by extension, the local economy.

“We are on the cusp of something very, very special in Albuquerque,” Keller said. “We have these two companies — Ebon and Maxeon — and they’re solar panel manufacturers. They have agreed and have signed all the relevant documents to move to Mesa del Sol from Asia and create … at least 2,000 jobs and bring in $2 billion worth of investment.”

Maxeon, a Singapore-based company, plans to construct a 1.9-million-square-foot facility at Mesa del Sol, which would produce solar cells and panels and employ up to 1,800 workers. A company spokesperson in August said Maxeon officials plan to break ground in the fourth quarter of this year, with production to begin by 2026.

A new entrant to solar cell manufacturing, Ebon Solar announced plans in August to build an 834,000-square-foot facility in Mesa del Sol that would, at full capacity, employ 900 workers. The company’s CEO, Judy Cai, expressed optimism that the company could begin construction at the end of this year.

Both expansions are getting significant local and state investments, including the issuing of industrial revenue bonds and Local Economic Development Act funding.

Keller told legislators that the entry of the two companies falls in line with the “thesis that we’ve had for quite some time, which is that New Mexico should be a hub for renewable energy manufacturing.”

“How amazing is it that, that actually could be possible,” Keller said.

But while Keller’s comments leaned optimistic, he also expressed some sense of incredulity, noting that the city has seen some larger expansions fall through, including recently Universal Hydrogen, which had plans to invest $254 million in a manufacturing facility in Albuquerque.

The company, based out of California, shut down earlier this year after failing to secure funding to build out its turboprop conversion technology and modular hydrogen capsules to fuel up planes.

“We’ve been burned many times by companies who’ve made promises. ... Orion, Universal Hydrogen — those are just since I’ve been mayor.

“If one of these two companies comes here, it’s going to transform central New Mexico. That’s a great thing. But we want that shovel in the ground,” Keller said.

Max Gruner, the city of Albuquerque’s economic development director, expressed optimism about the state as a place for growth for expanding companies in his remarks to legislators.

“This is the first time in my career that you can be a CEO of a global company, and you can sit in an Irish pub anywhere in the world, and you can do the math on the back of a cocktail napkin, and you can come to the conclusion that you can actually afford to … onshore, to reshore, to the U.S. — to create U.S. jobs — because there are enough incentives in the system, and there are enough protective tariffs,” Gruner said.

He added that “once you’ve made the decision that you’re willing to come to the U.S. — that you’re willing to come back to the U.S. — New Mexico is a fabulous value proposition.”