Image Credit: @NovonixBattery / X & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Electric vehicle battery manufacturer NOVONIX is looking to expand, and they are asking Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga to help them cover the costs.
The company has plans to purchase 812 acres of land at Enterprise South Industrial Park to build a new “greenfield site.” They plan to produce synthetic graphite, which is used in the EV batteries.
NOVONIX, which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, is asking for approval of a 15-year PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program, meaning they will create at least 500 new jobs for the area and provide more than a billion dollars in investments in exchange for a tax break from the city and county.
“Through this project, NOVONIX is affirming its commitment to Chattanooga as the ongoing base of its US operations,” said a NOVONIX spokesperson.
In December, the Department of Energy announced a conditional commitment to NOVONIX for a direct loan of up to $754.8 million to partially finance the proposed new facility.
While much of the response from city officials was positive, some expressed concern that previous PILOT programs were not well-monitored and corporations failed to meet their end of the deal. There was discussion of updating policies for such agreements and including them in city code.
When asked what changes have been made since a 2023 audit found that there was little oversight on these programs, Mayor Weston Wamp responded, “My office, alongside the department of economic and community development, is conducting aggressive oversight of these incentives to protect every tax dollar. For years, these programs went unchecked and lacked proper accountability.”
The Hamilton County Commission was scheduled to discuss its portion of the PILOT agreement with NOVONIX on Wednesday.
