Memo: S.A.'s incentives for Tesla topped Nevada's

Nevada economic officials projected the Tesla battery factory would directly or indirectly create 22,000 jobs over two decades, including 3,000 construction jobs leading up to the opening of the plant in 2017. Nevada economic officials projected the Tesla battery factory would directly or indirectly create 22,000 jobs over two decades, including 3,000 construction jobs leading up to the opening of the plant in 2017. Photo: Scott Sonner / Associated Press Photo: Scott Sonner / Associated Press Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Memo: S.A.'s incentives for Tesla topped Nevada's 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio officials lost their bid for Tesla Motors' planned $5-billion “gigafactory” — and the thousand of jobs expected to come with it — despite offering the electric-car maker a larger incentive package than the nearly $1.3 billion in tax breaks promised in Nevada.

The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, in a memo sent to board members on Monday and obtained by the Express-News, estimated that “the net value of the San Antonio package exceeded Nevada's.”

The San Antonio proposal met all of Tesla's demands, including a 1,000-acre site with rail service, workforce development and training programs, energy savings, property tax abatements and cash grants, according to the memo, written by SAEDF President Mario Hernandez.

Hernandez said Tesla suggested local officials “consider beginning construction of the initial building and absorbing that cost” for the manufacturer's $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory. Hernandez noted that Nevada's offer, which it announced last week, mentioned little about providing the site and building up front.

Still, Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday declared a site just east of Reno, Nevada, as the winner for the coveted gigafactory, which Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said will create more than 22,000 direct and indirect jobs and pump $100 billion into the state's economy over the next two decades.Hernandez could not immediately be reached Tuesday morning for comment. But in his email, he said San Antonio, in regards to a skilled workforce, enjoyed a “distinct advantage” over the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.

He cited 2013 data that showed the entire Reno region employs just 2,201 workers in the team assembly and production industries — two key occupations that Tesla said would fill about a third of the estimated 6,500 jobs at its proposed gigafactory. In contrast, the San Antonio area had more than 6,700 workers in the same occupations.

Additionally, Hernandez wrote, San Antonio could more than meet Tesla's energy needs.

“With the company indicating that the gigafactory would utilize 60 megawatts of electrical power, and grow to 300 megawatts at full capacity,” the email reads, “CPS Energy is one of the few power companies in the country with the capacity to meet this load factory, and has the additional advantage of being able to meet the demand from affordable, low-carbon and renewable sources, a fact the company stressed and prioritized during the process.”

Hernandez did not cite a specific figure but wrote that CPS Energy proposed a per-kilowatt-hour rate that “was competitive, or better than, that offered by any area under consideration for the gigafactory.”

Regardless of Tesla's decision to move forward on the battery factory in Nevada, Hernandez said San Antonio's courtship with the company “left a positive, lasting impression about San Antonio's business environment and the aggressive approach that the community is prepared to take to land major economic development projects.”

Read the full story on ExpressNews.com

More Information Document: Summary of Tesla Motors project and final decision

nmorton@express-news.net

Twitter: @nealtmorton