Siemens Energy is considering a $65 million investment to expand its gas turbine service and production facility in Rural Hall, and Forsyth County commissioners are now weighing an eight-year incentives package tied to the project. The German manufacturer's site in the small Forsyth County town has become a focal point as the company works to keep pace with surging demand for the turbines it builds and services.
The potential investment was first reported by Triad Business Journal, which covers the proposal under its manufacturing coverage. The outlet reports that the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is considering the eight-year incentives package as part of the county's response to Siemens Energy's interest in expanding its Rural Hall footprint.
A Bigger Pattern of Investment in North Carolina
The Rural Hall proposal would build on a much larger commitment Siemens Energy has already made to the state. The company has said it will invest $421 million to expand operations throughout North Carolina, according to Trade & Industry Development, with plans to add roughly 500 jobs across Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Raleigh. Siemens Energy itself has confirmed in a press release that the 500 jobs will be spread across those three communities, and that the broader U.S. investment program behind the North Carolina work totals $1 billion and is expected to generate more than 1,500 highly skilled jobs nationwide.
Part of that North Carolina spending is earmarked specifically for Rural Hall. Trade & Industry Development reports that Siemens Energy is investing further in its Winston Technology Center there, the same site now under discussion for the additional $65 million expansion. The company previously put $150 million into a Charlotte facility to manufacture large power transformers, a 2024 commitment noted by Business North Carolina, underscoring a pattern of the company steadily building out its North Carolina manufacturing base over several years.
Why Gas Turbines Are Suddenly in High Demand
Behind the expansion push is a sharp rise in orders. Trade & Industry Development reports that demand for gas turbines, particularly in the United States, has risen sharply in recent years. Siemens Energy has also said that artificial intelligence is not the only reason utilities and developers are building more natural-gas power plants, a point the company made in earlier reporting on its Rural Hall and Winston-Salem operations.
Electricity demand tied to data centers is a major piece of that picture. Business North Carolina cites projections from energy researcher BloombergNEF showing that electricity demand from U.S. data centers is expected to double by 2035, a trend that has pushed utilities and manufacturers alike to plan for significantly more generating capacity in the years ahead.
How North Carolina Incentive Deals Typically Work
Any Forsyth County package would fall under North Carolina's local economic-development statute, G.S. 158-7.1, which authorizes counties and cities to make appropriations for economic-development purposes. Under that law, an economic-development appropriation or expenditure must be approved by the county or city's governing body following a public hearing, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The statute also allows agreements to include remedies for breach, such as recapture provisions if a company falls short of promised job or investment targets, though the evidence does not establish what remedies, if any, are included in the proposed Forsyth County package.
Similar incentive negotiations have played out elsewhere in the state this fall. In New Hanover County, officials considered incentives for a proposed Wilmington manufacturing expansion that could bring $585 million in investment and create 414 jobs over five years, according to WilmingtonBiz, which reported a proposed grant of up to $600,000 per year, or $3 million over five years. New Hanover County commissioners went on to approve a comparable incentive package for Corning's Wilmington expansion, agreeing to pay the company up to $600,000 a year for five years from the county's general fund, per WECT. That agreement includes a provision reducing the county's payout if Corning misses its promised investment or hiring targets, a structure that offers one example of how North Carolina local governments have tied public money to performance benchmarks in similar deals.
It remains unclear what specific job targets or investment timeline Siemens Energy has proposed for the Rural Hall expansion, or what portion of the broader $421 million North Carolina commitment would land specifically in Forsyth County. For now, the eight-year incentives package remains under consideration by commissioners, with the ultimate scope of any public investment still to be determined.
