Tesla in Texas
By Danny Bigel
One of the most aggressive organizations when it comes to identifying and leveraging Tax Credits & Incentives is Tesla. That’s why I’m never surprised to see them in the news:
Not only are they the foremost recipient of carbon offset credits (which in turn, are sold to other car manufacturers to the tune of 8% of total 2019 revenue for Tesla) but they are extremely active on the manufacturing side with gigafactory packages in multiple jurisdictions. This particular agreement moves Tesla into Texas, specifically a neighboring area of Austin. I am personally interested to see an accurate and comprehensive accounting of the full economic impact of the new factory. I have seen large projects like this create extraordinary results with only a fraction of those results quantified in reporting which then feed back into really unfortunate - and mostly inaccurate - media articles. Clearly, if any C&I awardee fails to reach its obligations then it should be subject to clawback or penalties - I don’t think that’s ever been in question. But I really hope to see the full value of C&I packages laid out for the public to see - I think it is incredibly important for full transparency. We often use the phrase “full transparency” with respect to other public-private partnerships as if full transparency will yield a sort of smoking gun; oddly enough, I use the phrase with the exact opposite intent when it comes to C&I. I hope the whole process is laid to bare which will enable the public to actually see how effective it is and how lucky the people of Texas are to be supported by such an effort as the one made by Tesla and their government.