Trump’s War on Clean Energy Forces Georgia Solar Manufacturing Company to Lay Off 300 Workers, Reduce Pay for 1,000 More

Atlanta, GA – The Associated Press reported that Qcells, a solar manufacturing plant in Georgia, is furloughing 1,000 workers and permanently laying off another 300. The announcement comes on the heels of an election cycle where soaring energy costs were a defining issue for voters, including in Georgia. In an upset last week, Democrats made history by flipping two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission. Customers of the largest utility provider in Georgia have seen their bills increase by $518 a year over the last two years. Trump and Republicans’ war on clean energy is only making the problem worse by taking cheaper, cleaner energy off the grid – and voters are holding them accountable for it at the polls. 

Climate Power’s October Energy Crisis Snapshot report shows over 158,000 jobs have already been lost or stalled in the clean energy sector, and gas and electric utilities have raised or sought to increase bills by at least $89.9 billion since Trump took office. Meanwhile, soaring energy costs dominated the political conversation in Tuesday’s elections, offering Democrats a roadmap for the 2026 midterms. 

Climate Power Communications Director Alex Glass issued the following statement: 

“Donald Trump promised to cut electricity prices in half, but less than a year into his presidency, Americans are facing soaring utility bills and a constant drumbeat of factory closures. His reckless energy policies are putting local jobs on the line and hiking utility bills at the same time that Republicans in Congress are jacking up costs for working families by refusing to lower health care costs. Trump and Republicans are making the affordability crisis worse, and last week’s election results show that Americans have had enough.” 

Trump’s reckless energy policies are leaving a trail of shuttered projects across the country:

• A new report from Climate Power shows that Trump’s energy crisis has resulted in over 158,000 lost or stalled jobs in the clean energy sector, with nearly half from grants eliminated during the government shutdown. With rising energy demand driven by AI and extreme heat, gutting clean energy is already taking critical production offline and increasing costs for consumers. 

• In just two months, six clean energy projects were closed in Michigan, including most recently, two electric vehicle battery plants that laid off 324 workers. 

• Last month, General Motors laid off 1,200 workers at its electric vehicle plant in Detroit, along with hundreds of additional permanent and temporary layoffs at battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee. 

• Topsoe cited the repeal of clean energy tax credits as a reason for canceling  150 jobs and a $400 million investment in their Richmond, VA facility. 

• Earlier last month, Fox 2 Detroit reported that over 100 employees at Dana Incorporated, an EV battery component manufacturer in Auburn Hills, Michigan, had been laid off.

• General Motors canceled a $55 million factory that would have created 300 jobs, citing “decisions of the DOE”. 

• Fortescue blamed U.S. “policy settings” and the elimination of “critical tax credits” in Trump and Republicans’ budget bill for the cancellation of their $210 million Detroit EV battery factory. 

• Trump is using the government shutdown as an opportunity to sow even more chaos and uncertainty for American workers by cancelling $8 billion in investments in states that did not vote for him. The Trump administration has put $24 billion for energy projects on the chopping block since May. 

• Trump’s federal energy policies contributed to battery startup, Natron Energy, shutting down and canceling its planned $1.4 billion factory in Eastern North Carolina, which would have created 1,000 jobs. 

• Blue Ridge Power blamed insurmountable “market headwinds” impacting the renewable energy industry for their decision to lay off 517 workers in North Carolina 

• Trump planned to revoke federal permitting for a Maryland wind farm, which would have powered 718,000 homes and supported more than 1,300 jobs.