News of a conditional $6.6 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy that could restart construction of the planned Rivian electric vehicle and battery plant in the Stanton Springs industrial park near Social Circle was greeted enthusiastically, if somewhat reservedly, Tuesday by the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties (JDA).
“The JDA is excited about this step forward and Rivian’s continued commitment to Georgia,” the JDA noted in a prepared statement issued after its previously scheduled Tuesday meeting. “Rivian’s selection of Stanton Springs North and assurance of high-paying jobs to our region could not be achieved without partnership with the State of Georgia, which remains the Number 1 State to do business for over a decade.”
News of the conditional loan got little comment during the JDA meeting, as the group briefly noted its excitement over the latest development with Rivian, which it sees as a step forward in bringing the manufacturer’s Georgia plans toward reality.
When announced four years ago as an addition to Stanton Springs, the project was touted as bringing 7,500 jobs to this region of the state. Last spring, however, Rivian announced that it would instead be building its R2 model, a midsize SUV, at an Illinois facility.
If the federal loan, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022, is approved for the Stanton Springs project, it would help fund production of Rivian’s midsize platform, which underpins its R2 and its R3/R3X models. The R2 is a midsize SUV, and the R3 models are midsize crossover vehicles.
In its announcement of the loan, Rivian said it would build its Stanton Springs facility in two phases, each of which would result in annual production of 200,000 of its midsize platforms.
The first phase of production at a Stanton Springs facility is expected to begin in 2028, according to Rivian. The 7,500 jobs expected at the Georgia enterprise will, the company noted, be augmented initially by 2,000 plant construction jobs “that will further strengthen the domestic EV (electric vehicle) system.”
According to RJ Scaringe, founder and CEO of Rivian, the federal loan “would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability.”
In its news release on plans for Stanton Springs, the company notes that both it and the federal Department of Energy “must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions” before formal financing documents are drawn up. The loan will be secured by “all assets of the project and fixed assets and guarantees of the parent company, Rivian Automotive” and Rivian subsidiaries.
In a bit of business tangentially related to the Rivian announcement, the JDA’s fire committee began a discussion of providing fire protection for the entire Stanton Springs site. In that discussion, committee member recognized the firefights staffing any eventual stations would have to have special training in dealing with manufacturing materials.
The committee plans to meet in January with fire officials in its member counties, and in the Walton County city of Social Circle, to discuss fire protection at Stanton Springs. There will also be some effort by the JDA and other entities to seek potential state help in funding firefighting facilities at Stanton Springs that would also serve surrounding residential areas.
