Jonathan Matisse

Associated Press

Today in Manufacturing Podcast

Today in Manufacturing Podcast

Today in Manufacturing has a new podcast brought to you by the editors of Industrial Media. In each episode, we discuss the five biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward.

United Auto Workers President Ray Curry, right, bumps fists with Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, left, after a presentation on the planned factory to build electric F-Series trucks and the batteries to power future electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. The plant in Tennessee is to be built near Stanton, Tenn.

Ford's Plan for New EV Factories Raises Question Over Union Jobs

The carmaker is going to hire 11,000 workers, but just how good will those jobs be?

In this April 29, 2015 file photo, a boat travels on the Tennessee River near the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tenn. Federal regulators have fined the nation’s largest public utility $145,000 for submitting incomplete and inaccurate information on a backup system at its Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified the Tennessee Valley Authority of the proposed fine regarding the Spring City, Tennessee plant in a Nov. 19, 2019 letter. The utility says it has taken corrective action, adding that the backup configuration was never used.

Federal Utility Fined $145K for Inaccurate Nuke Plant Info

The utility submitted incomplete and inaccurate information.

In this Nov. 6, 2018 file photo, Democratic Senate candidate, former Gov. Phil Bredesen speaks to supporters after he conceded to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in their race for the U.S. Senate in Nashville, Tenn., as his wife Andrea Conte stands next to him. A new business venture by Bredesen takes on global warming by helping companies fund solar panels in communities with dirty-power electric grids. The Democrat plans to introduce Clearloop on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, at a conference headlined by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It's Bredesen's first big public foray since losing a U.S. Senate bid last year.

Ex-Gov. Launches Energy Firm

Clearloop will enable companies to compensate for their emissions impact by paying to fund new solar panels in communities with the dirtiest electric grids.

In this Nov. 27, 2018 file photo, a banner depicting the Chevrolet Cruze model vehicle is displayed at the General Motors' Lordstown plant in Lordstown, OH. It’s looking less likely that General Motors will again make vehicles at the Ohio assembly plant that shut down last winter.

Hope of Return to Closed GM Plant Fades for Workers

Among the thousands of former Lordstown assembly plant workers now spread across GM factories in seven states, many were hoping GM revive production and rescue their old jobs.

In this file photo, workers produce vehicles at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga.

GOP Rehashes Fight Against VW Union

They're predicting economic harm if workers at Volkswagen's car assembly plant in Chattanooga vote to unionize.

Tva Coal Plant Ap

Utility Eyes Removal of Coal Ash from TN Plant

A new Tennessee Valley Authority report rules out options at the Allen Fossil Plant that would leave coal ash totaling 3.5 million cubic yards where it is now.

Electrolux Not Required Pay Back State

The appliance maker isn't legally required to repay $100 million in state incentives for its soon-to-be-shuttered Memphis factory.

In this June 29, 2000, file photo, Tracy Matlock, left, and David Culpepper, right, move barrels of Jack Daniel's whiskey from one of the warehouses at the famous distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn. Jack Daniel's is turning to state lawmakers to ensure that distillers aren't subject to property tax on whiskey barrels in Tennessee, which the company says it hasn't had to pay since at least the end of Prohibition eight decades ago.

Jack Daniel's Fights Barrel Tax

The company says it hasn't had to pay this tax since the Prohibition era.

Prop Plane Wiki

Group Wants Probe of Utility's Jets

A critic called the purchases "the very definition of corruption."

This Jan. 25, 2017 file photo shows Gallatin Fossil Plant in Gallatin, Tenn. State environmental regulators say it shouldn’t cost ratepayers more money or take as long as the nation’s largest public utility has estimated to complete a massive, court-ordered coal ash cleanup at the Tennessee power plant. State officials voiced skepticism over the Tennessee Valley Authority’s 24-year timeline and cost claims in federal court filings and state records. The utility has said it’s taking steps to comply with the court’s cleanup requirement, even as it appeals the order.

Ash Cleanup Timeline, Rate Hike Overstated

A federal judge ordered the ash excavated and removed, because it's leaking pollutants.

Utility Needs $900M to Move Plant Ash

And the job would take 24 years.