NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) -- A newly reopened Niagara Falls manufacturing plant will use hydropower to make products for the solar industry.
New York City-based Globe Specialty Metals Inc. said it hired 138 people after spending $27 million on upgrades to the silicon plant it acquired in 2006.
The New York Power Authority aided the reopening by approving a 40-megawatt allocation of low-cost hydropower. Globe also is in line for about $25 million in state Empire Development Zone benefits over 10 years.
State leaders hope to attract solar panel manufacturers to New York by offering reduced rates on the in-demand purified silicon the Niagara Falls plant will produce.
Globe eventually hopes to employ 500 people in Niagara Falls.
