Legislators urge Biden to ease restrictions that could help this Bellingham facility grow
Three Washington state legislators are urging the Biden administration to ease import restrictions on solar panels from Canada in order to boost clean energy jobs in Washington state, including in Whatcom County.
U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray in sending a letter requesting the administration exempt Canadian solar panels from current tariffs and ease restrictions on imported solar cells that in turn would allow for more production in the U.S.
The legislators pointed to Silfab, which is based in Canada, as an example. It has a facility on Bellingham’s waterfront and is building a second facility in Burlington. According to the legislators the company would make more investments into the two facilities in order to increase production if the current tariffs were lifted for Canadian companies.
Geoff Atkins, who is in charge of business development at Silfab, confirmed by email that the company would expand its capacity in Burlington and would make a further investment in Bellingham by updating equipment and technology within the existing building.
Since 2018, Silfab has invested more than $43 million in the Bellingham facility, according to the letter from the legislators, which was sent to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
Silfab acquired the Bellingham operations from Itek Energy in 2018 and expanded operations at 800 Cornwall Ave. The solar panels are sold for residential projects across the U.S. In 2020, the company employed about 200 people at the Bellingham facility.
