Four new electric school buses are pulled out of the garage at GreenPower Motor Co., in South Charleston, in December 2023. The four buses were then delivered to four West Virginia school districts, including Kanawha and Cabell counties. Kanawha said recently that it is buying more GreenPower buses.
GreenPower Motor Co. Mega BEAST electric buses are put together on Aug. 26, 2024, at the company's factory in South Charleston.
Gazette-Mail file photo
GreenPower Motor Co., the electric bus manufacturer that promised jobs at its South Charleston plant and clean-energy-powered school buses for districts across the state, has laid off employees and announced a pause on production.
GreenPower has a $15 million order to supply 41 buses to West Virginia school districts, including Kanawha and Cabell county schools.
News of the layoffs was first shared Friday during an online BridgeValley Community & Technical College Board of Governors meeting. Ron Rogillio, BridgeValley board member and professor of manufacturing technology, said 17 of his students who worked at GreenPower received a layoff email during his class, also on Friday.
In a statement provided Tuesday by GreenPower, the company said it would "pause manufacturing and layoff [sic] a portion of [the] workforce at its manufacturing facility in South Charleston."
It was unclear Tuesday what the total number of layoffs is, how many people GreenPower employed before the layoffs, if all South Charleston manufacturing has been stopped, and if so, for how long. Requests for clarification from GreenPower were not returned by Tuesday evening.
The main reason for the layoffs and production pause, according to the statement, was Trump administration trade tariffs which, "significantly increased GreenPower’s operational costs," according to the statement, "and disrupted the company’s ability to build and deliver buses in a timely manner."
GreenPower said it is not the only bus manufacturer affected.
"This business instability and the significantly increased costs impacts all school bus manufactures whether they are producing electric, diesel, propane or gas school buses," the statement said. "The implications are staggering."
Four new electric school buses are pulled out of the garage at GreenPower Motor Co., in South Charleston, in December 2023. The four buses were then delivered to four West Virginia school districts, including Kanawha and Cabell counties. Kanawha said recently that it is buying more GreenPower buses.
Gazette-Mail file photo
South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens said the project was risky from the start.
"I hope this is not a death penalty to the project," Mullens said. "It was a tough business to begin with. I hope they are able to recover."
Jason Redman, director of Transportation for Kanawha County Schools, expressed disappointment about GreenPower's announcement.
"Kanawha County [Schools] was initially promised 21 additional buses to add to our fleet but have only received four," he said.
Redman said the project pause will not affect the existing buses they have received.
GreenPower said in its statement that it will provide employee assistance to those laid off.
"GreenPower is committed to supporting its employees during this transition," the statement said. "Employees will receive assistance from GreenPower with any questions regarding unemployment benefits or references."
A GreenPower Motor Co. employee works on a Mega BEAST electric bus on Aug. 26, 2024, at the company's factory in South Charleston.
Gazette-Mail file photo
The GreenPower manufacturing facility was first announced in January 2022, giving both the prospect of jobs — as many as 900 were expected when the plant was at full production — but also the promise of expansion in transportation for schools in the area. Kanawha County Schools initially viewed the buses as an opportunity to make school transportation more efficient and less reliant on fossil fuels.
