Company announces nearly $712 million project in Kentucky to make batteries used to store energy

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A battery manufacturer has selected Kentucky for a nearly $712 million project to produce industrial-sized batteries used to store and distribute energy, a process seen as increasingly important to help secure a reliable electric grid for the country, officials said Friday.

The Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing plant will employ 1,572 workers once the project reaches full capacity, deepening Kentucky's ties to emerging battery technologies. Companies wanting to make batteries to power vehicles have announced projects expected to total nearly $12 billion in new investments and create more than 10,280 fulltime jobs in Kentucky.

“With this investment, we’re putting our stamp on working to become just the battery capital of the United States,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in announcing the new project to be located in Shelbyville.

Production at the Shelbyville battery plant is expected to begin in late 2025.

The plant, a part of Canadian Solar Inc., will produce batteries used by utilities and other customers to store energy at large scale. The batteries are about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and nearly 9 feet tall, the company said. They can be paired with solar, wind or other forms of electricity generation and are seen as playing a crucial role for both a green energy future and a secure power grid as demand for electricity continues to grow in the U.S.

The batteries can keep a steady flow of power when sources like wind and solar are not producing. For example, when people are sleeping and thus using less electricity, the energy produced from wind blowing through the night can be stored in batteries — and used when demand is high during the day.

“Energy storage is a crucial part of the new and evolving electricity grid," said Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "Battery cells are the heart of a utility-scale energy storage system. This project will put Kentucky at the center of the effort to build a robust and secure electricity grid for this country.”

Canadian Solar has a global presence in the design and production of battery energy storage systems for utility-scale applications. Kentucky's ties to the company will only strengthen the Bluegrass State's role in the energy sector, Beshear said.

For centuries, Kentucky coal helped power the nation. Now, the Shelbyville plant will produce batteries used across the country to help ensure a reliable flow of electricity for consumers, Beshear said.

“This is energy security for the United States," the governor said. "It’s in our national security. And this company choosing to do it in Kentucky means we’re going to be a part of providing that security for the entire country’s infrastructure and in the grid.”

The battery factory will be the largest economic development project in Shelby County's history and ranks as the third-largest jobs project announced during Beshear's nearly five-year tenure as governor.

Shelbyville Mayor Troy Ethington called the project a milestone for his community, located just east Louisville. It will become Shelby County's largest employer, creating new opportunities for residents, he said. The company said it is committed to hiring locally to fill the jobs. The Shelbyville facility also will include a research and development lab to help advance battery technology, the company said.

“This investment ensures more Kentucky families will thrive, and that the commonwealth’s incredible economic momentum continues,” Beshear said.

State officials offered a package of performance-based tax incentives for the battery project, tied to the company's investment, job creation and employee wages, the state said.

CORRECTS IDENTIFICATION TO ANDY BESHEAR FROM DAN ISON - Colin Parkin, left, President of e-Storage, speaks with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear following the announcement of a $712 million project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Colin Parkin, President of e-Storage talks about the announcement by Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing of a $712 million battery manufacturing project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, right, listens, as Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar speaks discusses the announcement by Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing of a $712 million battery manufacturing project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar speaks during an announcement by Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing of a $712 million battery manufacturing project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar speaks during an announcement by Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing of a $712 million battery manufacturing project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, joined by local and executives with Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing a $712 million battery manufacturing project in Shelbyville, Ky., creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Friday toward their worst loss since Election Day as the big bump Wall Street got from last week's victory for Donald Trump and cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve keeps fading.

The S&P 500 sank 1.4% and was heading for a losing week and its worst day since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 310 points, or 0.7%, as of 2:44 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% lower.

Makers of vaccines helped drag the market down after President-elect Donald Trump said he wants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist, to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. Moderna tumbled 6.2%, and Pfizer fell 4.8% amid concerns about a possible hit to profits.

Kennedy still needs confirmation from the Senate to get the job, and some analysts are skeptical about his chances because of his views on vaccines and criticism of the pharmaceutical industry.

“However, if Kennedy is confirmed, it is hard to bookend risks for investors as his views are so outside the traditional Republican health policy orthodoxy,” Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins wrote in a research note. Meekins is a former deputy assistant secretary at the department known as HHS.

“Investors may need to forget everything they thought they knew about Republicans and healthcare," he said. "Kennedy’s appointment may make it less likely traditional qualified experienced (Republican) staff will agree to join HHS, creating more uncertainty.”

The only stock in the S&P 500 to fall more than Moderna was Applied Materials, which dropped 8.6% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The provider of manufacturing equipment and services to the semiconductor industry gave a forecasted range for upcoming revenue whose midpoint was short of analysts’ expectations.

The pressure is on companies to deliver big growth, in part because their stock prices have been rising so much faster than their earnings. That’s made the broad stock market look more expensive by a range of measures, which has critics calling for at least a fade. The S&P 500 is still up about 23% for the year and near its all-time high set a few days ago, despite this week’s weakness.

Stocks had been broadly roaring since Election Day, when Trump’s victory sent a jolt through financial markets worldwide. Investors immediately began sending up stocks of banks, smaller U.S. companies and cryptocurrencies as they laid bets on the winners coming out of Trump’s preference for higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation.

But investors are also taking into account some of the potential downsides from Trump’s return to the White House.

Besides Friday’s hit to vaccine makers, Treasury yields have also been climbing in the bond market on both the economy’s surprising resilience and worries that Trump’s policies could spur bigger U.S. government deficits and faster inflation.

That's forced traders to recalibrate how much relief the Federal Reserve could provide for the economy next year through cuts to interest rates. The Fed earlier this month lowered its main interest rate for the second time this year, and past forecasts published by Fed officials indicated more cuts were likely to come through 2025.

Lower interest rates can act as fuel for the economy and stock market, particularly after the Fed had kept rates at a two-decade high, but they can also put upward pressure on inflation.

On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested the U.S. central bank will be cautious about future decisions on interest rates. “The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates,” he said, though he declined to discuss how Trump’s policies could alter things.

Traders have since ratcheted back forecasts for whether the Fed will cut rates again at its meeting next month, but they still see better than a coin flip’s chance of it, according to data from CME Group.

On Friday, Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market following several reports on the economy.

One showed shoppers spent more at U.S. retailers last month than expected, another signal that the most influential force on the economy remains solid.

“Many consumers were reporting that they were putting off trips and big ticket item purchases until after the election,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “Many businesses reported they were putting off capital investment due to the election. Now that the uncertainty of the outcome is behind us, we could see some decent ‘relief spending.’”

Friday’s data on retail sales, though, may not be quite as strong as it appeared. After taking away purchases of automobiles, sales at retailers were weaker last month than economists expected.

A separate report, meanwhile, showed manufacturing activity in New York state is growing strongly. That soundly beat expectations for zero growth, and it comes off October’s contraction. Some of the survey’s responses were collected after Election Day.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield slid to 4.42% from 4.44% late Thursday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, slipped to 4.29% from 4.36% late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% after data from the Office for National Statistics showed economic growth slowed to 0.1% in the July-September quarter from the 0.5% in the previous quarter. It was weaker than expected.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% after data showed growth for Japan’s economy accelerated in the latest quarter, even as the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in July.

AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

Trader Robert Charmak works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

People pass the New York Stock Exchange, right, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

FILE - Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)