Lansing schedules hearings to transfer battery-plant tax incentives to LG Energy Solution

The Lansing City Council’s Committee of the Whole voted unanimously March 10 to set a public hearing for March 24 on transferring an Industrial Facilities Exemption (IFE) certificate from Ultium Cells LLC to LG Energy Solution Michigan, Inc., and separately approved a resolution backing transfer of the state Renaissance Zone to the same buyer.

Carl Dorsheimer, director with the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, told the council the plant — originally a joint venture between General Motors and Ultium Cells LLC — is near completion and the transaction transferring GM’s stake to LG Energy Solution is expected to close at the end of the first quarter. “I'm Carl Dorsheimer with the Lansing EDC,” he said in opening remarks.

Why it matters: the site was granted two large incentives in 2021 — a state Renaissance Zone and an Industrial Facilities Exemption certificate — to support construction of a roughly 2.5 million-square-foot battery cell plant in the Lansing–Delta Township 425-area. City staff said those incentives were granted with local support and that LG Energy Solution is asking the state and the Michigan Tax Commission to assign the incentives to the new owner.

City staff said the Renaissance Zone exempted roughly 65 mills and that the IFE certificate abates 50% of a…