Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has joined the effort to try and claw back millions in state incentive money provided to an electric vehicle battery manufacturer that appears to have abandoned plans for a once-lauded and controversial plant in Mecosta County.
In a letter sent to Gotion, Inc. dated Friday, Jan. 30 and provided to the Detroit Free Press, Assistant Attorney General James Ziehmer informed the company the Michigan Strategic Fund is seeking immediate repayment of nearly $23.7 million, initially provided to Gotion under a Strategic Site Readiness Program grant.
In 2022, Michigan lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had approved $715 million in incentives, largely through an estimated $540 million in tax breaks, for Gotion to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Green Charter Township, a community of around 3,200 residents about an hour north of Grand Rapids. Gotion, in turn, promised to create 2,350 jobs at the factory. The project was celebrated as a job creator and also a key component in the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles.
But the plant never came to fruition after the project was swiftly met with local opposition. After Green Township voters ousted local officials who supported the plant in 2023, new members of the township board voted to rescind a previously approved plan to extend the city’s water supply to the location of the factory. That prompted a Gotion lawsuit to reverse the township’s vote. U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering granted the company a preliminary injunction in May 2024 and ordered Green Township to carry out its previously agreed plan, although the township appealed that order.
As work to build the plant dawdled, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) served Gotion with a notice of default in September 2025. The notice asserted Gotion had failed to meets its obligations to construct the plant and the state was pulling a $125 million Critical Industry Program grant. Furthermore, the state said Gotion had to repay nearly $23.7 million in site readiness funds it previously disbursed to the company.
So far, Gotion hasn’t paid the state. Now, Nessel’s office is stepping in, as Ziehmer’s letter informed Gotion it had not met the 30-day default notice it was initially provided in September. The letter from the AG’s office was provided to the Detroit Free Press by the MEDC on Jan 30.
“The MEDC is actively working with the Department of Attorney General on these collection activities with an objective to secure repayment of the entire amount owed,” MEDC spokesperson Danielle Emerson said in an emailed statement. Emerson said the letter sent Jan. 30 begins a 90-day clock for Gotion to repay the $23.7 million in site readiness grant dollars to the state in full without additional penalties. If Gotion takes longer than 90 days to pay the state back, “MEDC will continue to pursue the rights and remedies MSF is entitled,” Emerson said.
Gotion didn’t immediately return a request for comment from the Free Press sent Jan. 30. It continues to fight its lawsuit against Green Township, which is now in front of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a recent court filing to the Sixth Circuit of Appeals, Gotion attorneys argued the delay was the fault of Green Township, and the company “now intends to amend its complaint to also seek monetary relief” from the township.
Gotion attorneys also wrote in the Jan. 20 filing the “current reality makes it exceedingly difficult, if not practically impossible, to proceed” with plans for the battery plant.
The filing was made after the court asked Gotion and Green Township if the lawsuit was now moot, given the delays in construction. Green Township argued in a separate filing Jan. 20 that the lawsuit is moot, pointing to the lack of progress on the plant and the MEDC pulling its grant support.
Along with local opposition to the battery plant, Gotion’s presence in Michigan was met with derision by some over the company’s ties to China, where the company is based. Gotion has denied claims that it’s influenced by the country’s government.
U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, has been among Gotion’s chief critics, and represents Green Township in Congress. Moolenaar, who chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in Congress, issued a two-word statement Jan. 30 on the news that the attorney general’s office was seeking repayment from Gotion: “Pay up.”
This story has been updated to add new information.
You can reach Arpan at alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Nessel office demands failed battery plant return millions to Michigan
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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