Gov. Andrew Cuomo doubled down on his support for Tesla’s state-subsidized South Buffalo solar panel factory Tuesday, telling the Buffalo News Editorial Board that he was not “disappointed” by reports that the firm's solar business is struggling.

The RiverBend factory, which manufactures components for solar installations and Tesla’s electric vehicles, was built with $750 million of state subsidies as part of Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion stimulus program. Under the terms of Tesla’s agreement with the state, the company was to create 1,460 jobs in Buffalo by April 2020 or face a $41.2 million penalty.

The plant employs almost 800 people in Buffalo, according to state officials, which means it will have to hire 660 more in the next seven months.

"You want to engage in anticipatory, contingent anxiety? No. ... ," Cuomo said. "We will find out [if Tesla met its job targets] next year. We know what the contract says. We know what the obligation says. We know the precaution that was built in. We have damages."

At present, Cuomo added, Tesla is ahead of its state-mandated hiring target, which called for 500 jobs by April 2019, including employees at Panasonic, its partner at the solar panel factory. He cited the new jobs as evidence of Buffalo's economic "momentum" and "energy."