Rising Power Demand Drives Plans for 175 Factory Jobs in Louisiana

Growing demand for electricity is bringing another expansion to a Louisiana transformer factory, where GE Vernova plans to invest $34.5 million and add 175 jobs.

The company announced the Shreveport project Nov. 10. It expects the upgraded operation to reach full production capacity in 2028, supplying more transformers for industrial and renewable energy customers.

The work will take place at the existing plant on West Bert Kouns Industrial Loop. New manufacturing equipment and changes to production processes are intended to help the factory meet demand from industries, energy systems and digital technologies, GE Vernova said.

Engineering and equipment procurement are already underway, with installation expected to continue through 2027. The expanded output will include transformers used in digital factories and battery energy storage applications.

Louisiana Economic Development puts the plant’s existing workforce at 637 employees, whose positions are expected to be retained. The 175 planned additions are direct company jobs. A separate state estimate of 185 indirect jobs brings the projected regional impact to 360, but that larger figure is not a count of factory openings.

Louisiana offered a $300,000 performance-based grant for site and infrastructure improvements. The company is also expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

The investment extends a manufacturing history that began when General Electric broke ground in Shreveport in 1969. Transformer production started the following year, and the operation now occupies 500,000 square feet.

It also follows a separate $34 million expansion completed in 2024, when Prolec GE added a third production line at the plant. That project introduced three-phase pad-mount transformers for uses including wind farms and solar parks.