As the Trump administration reins in support for offshore wind projects, one of the country’s biggest wind energy companies is doubling down—right here in Northwest Florida.
Last week, GE Vernova opened a sleek new customer experience center at its nacelle manufacturing hub in Pensacola. The move is part of more than $70 million in local investments the company has made since 2023.
Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova—the independent energy company formed from General Electric’s restructuring—said Pensacola is poised to play a central role in the nation's energy future.
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“We've got a lot to do,” Strazik told a crowd gathered for the ribbon-cutting. “And the reality is the country's going to need all forms of electricity... And Pensacola's going to play an incredibly important part in that.”
The local facility produces nacelles, the housing units that sit atop wind turbine towers and contain the components that generate power. The plant has already supplied parts for major clean energy projects in New Mexico and Texas.
Strazik said the facility, which produced more than 3,000 nacelles in 2019, now has capacity to more than double that output.
“That’s 700 people here today, but at the max capacity out there, there's no reason it's not more than a thousand,” he said. “So that's what we're playing the game for.”
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About 20% of the plant’s current workforce are veterans, many from Naval Air Station Pensacola. Local leaders say GE’s ongoing expansion is boosting the region’s reputation as a clean energy manufacturing hub.
“My hope for the future is that we continue our partnership and that the city is here to help GE grow in any way that they need,” said Erica Grancagnolo, economic development director for the City of Pensacola.
Strazik called the Pensacola site foundational to GE Vernova’s operations.
“This is our largest site that we have in our wind business," he told the crowd. "(That's) a $10 billion revenue business—in which this is our single biggest location. So it just matters a lot for us. And we're committed to you.”
For now, the hum of turbine production in Pensacola continues, even as the political winds shift in Washington.
