21 November 2023
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (KSNW) — Johnson Controls is expanding, meaning more job openings. The company has received a $33 million federal grant to help it expand its operations in Wichita, San Antonio, Texas, and Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
The money comes from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, and it will expand the U.S. production of electric heat pumps. The company says the expansion will create 600 new jobs in Wichita, 200 in San Antonio, and 200 in Pennsylvania.
The facilities are expected to produce approximately 200,000 electric heat pumps annually, a 200% production increase. The company says that once completed, the initiative is expected to save around 1.63 metric tons of CO² emissions from residential heating and 25 metric tons from commercial and industrial heating each year, which is equivalent to the amount of CO² created by 5.5 million gas-powered vehicles each year, according to Johnson Controls.
“We are thrilled to participate in this program and help drive the enormous impact it will have on energy security, reliability and affordability while achieving unprecedented progress in slashing carbon. We also are excited to create 1,000 new family-sustaining jobs – a great boost for the communities we call home,” Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability and external relations officer for Johnson Controls, said in a news release. “As we move toward achieving nationwide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical that our commercial, institutional and industrial sectors have the technologies necessary for effective decarbonization. Some of our heat pumps will help homeowners cut their energy bills, while others can play a major role in commercial industries. For example, we already are working with large-scale institutions on heat pump deployments that will cut emissions by more than 70% and costs by more than 60%.”
The grant is part of the first award from DOE’s authorization by the Biden Administration to utilize the Defense Production Act to increase domestic production of five key clean energy technologies, including heat pumps. The program aims to bring important manufacturing back to the United States.
For more about heat pumps and how they work, click here.