The White House this week reposted a message from T1 Energy promoting the company’s planned solar cell factory in Milam County, a project the company says will bring more than $500 million in first-phase investment and an estimated 1,500 manufacturing jobs to the Rockdale area northeast of Austin.
T1 Energy’s post on X, shared by the White House, credited President Donald Trump with making the investment possible. “This investment would not have been possible without the leadership of President Trump and his administration,” the company wrote. “We are investing big in America, because it is the greatest country in the world.”
The facility, which T1 Energy calls G2_Austin, is being built on more than 100 acres in Rockdale. Construction began last December, when the company priced the first phase at $400 million to $425 million and projected up to 1,800 jobs. The company now estimates first-phase capacity at 2.1 gigawatts and annual payroll at $120 million, with production targeted to begin in early 2027.
Chairman and CEO Dan Barcelo told Breitbart News the White House repost reflects recognition of work the company has already put into the project.
This is a recognition that T1 is helping the administration deliver on one of its key promises: to bring back advanced manufacturing jobs. We’re excited that our investment and hard work is being recognized. We’re building in America to power Americans and American energy grids.
Barcelo added that the company’s investment is meant to help build out domestic energy production and manufacturing capacity. “Our investment will help deliver energy abundance while reshoring advanced manufacturing and putting Americans to work,” he said.
Cells produced at the Rockdale plant are intended to supply T1’s existing 5-gigawatt solar module facility south of Dallas, which is already operating. To keep that Dallas-area plant running while Rockdale is under construction, the Commerce Department last week granted T1 a waiver to import up to 1.725 gigawatts of foreign-made solar cells.
The waiver comes amid new trade restrictions on solar supply chains. In August, Trump issued a Section 232 proclamation setting minimum import prices on polysilicon and related products, with a 15 percent duty on the products set to take effect Dec. 4.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted last year that the administration’s trade and manufacturing policies would spur a wave of large capital investment projects nationwide, including major factory construction.
The announcement comes as Trump has been campaigning in Texas on behalf of Senate candidate Ken Paxton. At rallies in Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday, Trump told supporters that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico “will kill millions of Texas jobs.”
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