Battery maker ESS gets emergency funding after announcement of Wilsonville factory closure; Tualatin-based Powin will lay off 250.
Two Oregon clean energy companies are fighting to stay afloat in an uncertain economic and regulatory environment.
Wilsonville’s ESS will limp along after receiving last-minute funding and, absent an emergency cash infusion, Tualatin-based Powin will lay off 250, and possibly more.
ESS, a major manufacturer of iron flow batteries, reported to the federal Securities & Exchange Commission last week it expected to shutter its Wilsonville factory within three days without emergency funding. The company followed up with an announcement it had received last-minute investments allowing it to maintain operations for the near future. The company will now take steps to alter its operations plan to stay in business including selling four of its energy warehouses.
“I am pleased to report this important development and the continuation of our strategic pivot and delivery of a scalable Energy Base solution manufactured here in the United States to support unprecedented growth in energy demand and the critical need for grid reliability and resiliency,” writes Kelly Goodman, Interim CEO of ESS.
ESS isn’t the only struggling Oregon battery maker. Last week, Tualatin-based Powin filed a notice of potential cessation of business operations stating nearly 250 employees will be laid off before July 28 if “present business circumstances do not improve.” And all employees could be terminated if a deeper turnaround doesn’t occur.
“Due to unforeseen business circumstances, Powin LLC’s situation, as well as the economy generally, remain dynamic and fluid,” reads Powin’s notice, which was addressed to the mayors of Portland and Tualatin and the state Higher Education Coordinating Committee, which provides resources to laid-off workers through its Office of Workforce Investments.
Under the federal WARN ACT — or the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — companies with 100 or more employees must provide 60 days’ notice ahead of any closure or job layoff.
Powin’s expected cuts affect in-person and remote workers from around the company, including “C suite” senior executives.
The news of layoffs comes just one month after Powin’s launch of a new grid-scale containerized battery with increased energy density, according to the trade publication pv magazine USA. The Pod Max 6.26 MWh containerized lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery was to be delivered with a 20-year performance guarantee.
Founded in 1989, Powin originally focused on contract manufacturing. With locations in Tualatin as well as Portland’s Pearl District, the company today makes large-capacity batteries to store energy from wind farms and solar plants, the Oregonian reported. It’s the country’s third-largest battery storage provider by megawatt-hour deployed, but many of its LFP batteries are imported from China and thus subject to high tariffs implemented and proposed by Donald Trump’s administration.
The imposition of tariffs and withdrawal of government incentives by the Trump Administration has caused major shifts in the energy storage market. Outside Oregon, Texas-based residential solar company Sunnova recently filed for bankruptcy, as did Li-Cycle, a Canadian firm with a substantial U.S. presence.
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