According to The Wall Street Journal, New York State invested nearly $1 billion in Elon Musk to build a large-scale solar panel factory, but failed to meet initial expectations such as increased production and economic development. It is said that

New York State began construction on a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial facility in 2015 that it now leases to Tesla for $1 a year. according to to the WSJ. Musk estimated the facility could produce enough panels a week to support 1,000 roof installations, but only 21 were completed in the same period, according to energy analysts at Wood Mackenzie. It doesn’t meet that standard.

The state initially invested $240 million in the plant by purchasing solar panel manufacturing equipment, according to the WSJ. Today, the factory is mostly staffed by low-paid Tesla analysts, who work for other companies and not manufacturing operations. (Related: ‘Ridiculous’: Biden and Musk tussle over electric car charging technology)

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who closed the deal to build the factory, secured an additional $750 million for the project during his long tenure, according to the WSJ, adding $900 million to the state government’s investment in the facility. $59 million.

After leaving office, Cuomo defended the project, saying the site had more jobs than it would have as an abandoned site, but multiple New York legislators said the former governor had canceled his contract with Musk. criticized the WSJ.

“It was a bad deal. The caveat is that we shouldn’t give governors too much power to call selfish billionaires,” state senator Sean Ryan told the WSJ.

Democratic Senator Liz Krueger, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the state would not “spend billions of tax dollars pretending to be an angel investor”, but instead build infrastructure and train workers. He said he should fund projects aimed at to the WSJ.

EJ McMahon, a founding senior fellow at the Empire Center for Public Policy, said the contract with the factory was a waste.

“In terms of direct costs to taxpayers, this could be one of the greatest economic development outrages in American history,” McMahon told the WSJ.

Tesla did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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