- Micron Technology has announced that the opening of its first two chipmaking factories in Clay, New York, will be delayed by two to three years, with the first factory now expected to open in late 2030, instead of mid-2028 as previously planned.
- The completion of the second factory has also been pushed back from late 2030 to late 2033, and the construction period for the first factory has been lengthened from three to four years, according to the company’s final environmental report on the project.
- The environmental report, which was formally accepted and made public by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, does not explicitly state the reasons for the delays, but notes that the requirements under Micron’s agreement for $6.1 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce have recently changed.
- The revised agreement with the commerce department allows Micron to build a second factory at its headquarters in Boise, Idaho, and to shift part of its federal grant from the Clay project to the Boise project, with the company now planning to spend $3.4 billion of the grant in Clay, down from $4.6 billion previously announced.
- The delay in opening the Clay factories will also delay the hiring of up to 4,500 employees that Micron says it will need to run the plants, and will push back the opening of a childcare center for employees from early 2028 to late 2030.
- Despite the delays, Micron still plans to complete four factories by 2041, and could receive nearly $25 billion in taxpayer subsidies to build the first two factories, with the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency board scheduled to vote on November 17 on whether to grant Micron tax breaks of $1.76 billion in sales taxes and $284 million in property taxes.
- The company’s executive director, Bob Petrovich, and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, have commented on the delays, with Petrovich stating that it’s not unusual for big projects like Micron’s to be delayed, and McMahon noting that chip companies building in the US are running into labor shortages and realizing that factory construction is generally slower than expected.
Source: syracuse.com
