Electric Vehicle Manufacturing is Revitalizing Bay City

In February 2024, SK Siltron CSS received a $544 million conditional loan commitment from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office to expand its silicon carbide wafer manufacturing facility in Bay City.

The facility, which produces silicon carbide (SiC) wafers for power electronics in EVs, is projected to be among the top five manufacturers of SiC wafers globally thanks to expanded production made possible by the DOE loan.

Bay City, located in Mid-Michigan, has struggled to create good-paying jobs in the past decade. The city was devastated by the auto industry’s decline; the local GM manufacturing plant employed only a fraction of the workers that it did at its peak. Bay City’s economy was also hurt by the closure of nearby coal plants. However, now new clean energy investments in Bay City are creating good-paying jobs and revitalizing the region’s auto manufacturing sector while providing vital inputs for the domestic electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.