General Electric is getting ready to unveil a new battery manufacturing plant in the very same place where the company got its start.
The CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, will be in Schenectady on July 10 to celebrate the grand opening of the new plant.
The batteries are also new. They're designed to be used as backup power and energy storage in the telecommunications industry and for utility grids.
Todd Alhart is a spokesman for the company and says GE is also developing the batteries for eventual use in mass transit and large construction vehicles.
"We think this battery could work very well in a heavy duty vehicle like a transit bus, or a mining truck, or a locomotive," said Alhart.
The battery plant unofficially opened earlier this year and already employs 250 workers. GE expects to add another hundred people in the near future.
For more stories by the Innovation Trail and Marie Cusick, visit the Innovation Trail website.
The Innovation Trail is a collaboration between five upstate New York public media outlets. The initiative, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), helps the public gain a better understanding of the connection between technological breakthroughs and the revitalization of the upstate New York economy.