Two years ago, Eos Energy Enterprises Inc., which builds a new lower-cost zinc battery in Turtle Creek, received a $398.6 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its business.
On Tuesday, the company announced how it will spend a large chunk of that money: moving “a couple of hundred” software engineers and office workers from New Jersey to Nova Place on Pittsburgh’s North Side and acquiring a 432,000-square-foot warehouse in Marshall to expand its production capability. The company expects to expand its staff from about 280 to just more than 1,000 over the next few years.
A who’s who of state and local elected officials, economic development staff, educators and labor leaders attended a news conference at the Turtle Creek facility that once housed part of Westinghouse Electric Corp. Eos announced an investment of $352.9 million in the expansion effort, including $22 million in state funds and $2 million from Allegheny County’s Targeted Sector Growth Fund.
In addition, Eos CEO Joe Mastrangelo announced the company signed deals Tuesday with two new companies to buy its zinc storage batteries. The partnership with Talen Energy Corp. is designed to expand energy production and storage needed for the growing artificial intelligence and data storage industries across the state and MN8 Energy will buy batteries to store up to 750 MWh of electricity.
Those deals highlight why the company needs to expand production beyond the Turtle Creek site, which Mastrangelo conceded was purchased because “it was cheap” and met the needs of the company as a startup. Now, with growing orders, the company needs a larger, more efficient production facility all in one building to supplement Turtle Creek, which will continue operations “for the time being.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Rick Siger, state community and economic development secretary, said Eos officials were among the first to call and pitch the economic development possibilities of their product when the new administration took office in January 2023. Through what the governor called a model of collaboration among all parties, they worked regularly for more than two years to put together the deal announced Tuesday that he said would help the state’s energy industry grow “by leaps and bounds.”
“This is a big deal,” Shapiro said. “We knew immediately this technology would be a game-changer. We’ve been working on this for two years because we wanted to get it right.”
The less-expensive Z3 batteries produced by Eos are a perfect complement for the heavy electrical demand of AI projects and data storage, Shapiro said. These types of projects are why a recent study showed Pennsylvania was the only northeastern state showing economic growth, he added.
“Businesses that want to invest in energy are coming to Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “Eos is a big part of that.”
Mastrangelo said expanding in Western Pennsylvania and moving the company’s headquarters here was “a no-brainer” because of the educational facilities such as Carnegie Mellon University’s robotics programs, Community College of Allegheny County’s ability to train workers in the skills Eos needs and the work ethic of local residents. About 160 workers are members of the United Steelworkers of America, and all workers earn stock in the company.
The company has worked with CCAC and other programs to train Monongahela Valley residents for production jobs. Mastrangelo said that, too, was an easy choice because he’s also a product of the community college system.
RayNisha Addison, a single mother of two from Duquesne, said she received manufacturing training before starting at Eos as a production associate and after eight months was promoted to be a coordinator. She said she went from being concerned about how she would care for her family to a stable lifestyle now.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said the $2 million county contribution is its largest ever, but she believes it’s a solid investment.
“We want to make sure while this business grows, we grow with it,” she said. “It symbolizes what’s possible.”
Mastrangelo said he expects to begin using the Marshall facility in the second half of next year and staff will increase as orders grow. Office staff will relocate to Nova Place “over the next couple of years.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.