LS Electric said on the 18th that MCM Engineering II, its switchgear manufacturing subsidiary in Iron County, Utah, won approval for a tax reduction incentive from the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA), an economic agency under the State Governments of Utah. Analysts said the project to expand LS Electric's North American production bases is expected to gain speed.
The core of the incentive is a reduction of up to 30% in the increase in property taxes generated by business expansion over the next 25 years.
LS Electric will invest a total of $168 million (about 249.9 billion won) to triple MCM Engineering II's switchgear production capacity. It will expand the current 13,223-square-meter (about 4,000-pyeong) plant sixfold to 79,338 square meters (about 24,000 pyeong) and add three production buildings by 2030. LS Electric acquired local company MCM Engineering II in 2022 by investing $6.3 million (about 7.7 billion won).
LS Electric plans to ramp up its North American business centered on its Utah production base and the Bastrop, Texas, campus. By 2030, it plans to invest a total of $240 million (about 357 billion won) in production bases across North America to complete a local value chain that spans sales, engineering, production, and services.
It also plans to establish new business bases in Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, to push localization and provide differentiated services.
An LS Electric official said, "Utah, with its strong talent, infrastructure, and corporation-friendly regulatory environment, is a highly competitive location for LS Electric to continuously expand its advanced switchgear manufacturing capabilities," adding, "Through this campus expansion project, we will further strengthen our responsiveness to the North American market and accelerate the growth of our global power infrastructure business."