Ford Motor Co. is moving to unwind its BlueOval SK battery joint venture in Kentucky and says it will invest $1.9 billion to retool its Louisville Assembly Plant to produce an electric midsize pickup. These twin developments, unfolding alongside a $19.5 billion corporate writedown and a recently decided utility rate case, leave Kentucky workers facing uncertainty while residents may confront higher electricity bills. The situation amounts to a high-stakes test of whether public subsidies, private capital, and utility regulation can align to keep an auto-heavy state competitive amid volatile electric-vehicle demand.
Ford Exits Its Battery Joint Venture
In a December 2025 filing with federal securities regulators, Ford disclosed that it entered into a disposition agreement with SK On and BlueOval SK that effectively dissolves its Kentucky battery joint venture. Under the agreement, a Ford subsidiary will acquire two Kentucky battery plants and their equipment, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2026. Ford told investors it expects to record about $3 billion in pre-tax impairment and related charges in the fourth quarter of 2025 tied to the deal, acknowledging that the facilities are worth far less than previously projected when the EV market outlook appeared stronger.
The move raises questions about the future of a multibillion-dollar loan the U.S. Department of Energy finalized in December 2024 for battery plants in Glendale, Kentucky, and Stanton, Tennessee. That financing was structured around a joint venture that no longer exists in its original form, yet neither the DOE nor Ford has publicly clarified whether the loan terms will be amended, enforced as written, or partially unwound. With a Ford-controlled subsidiary now set to own the plants, the arrangement leaves open the possibility of revised terms, but no official filings have explained how the transfer could affect repayment schedules, job commitments, or technology benchmarks embedded in the agreement.
Louisville Gets a $1.9 Billion Lifeline
Even as Ford steps back from its battery partnership, the company has committed to a major overhaul of the Louisville Assembly Plant to build an all-new electric midsize pickup platform. According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, the $1.9 billion investment is expected to secure 2,200 existing jobs, with production targeted to begin in the second quarter of 2027. To keep Ford anchored in Louisville, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved supplemental incentives under the Kentucky Jobs Retention Act, effectively exchanging future tax revenue for a commitment that the plant will stay open and pivot to electric trucks instead of downsizing or closing.
On paper, the job numbers may look reassuring, but the workers affected by battery-plant changes are not necessarily the same employees tied to Louisville Assembly. Those losing battery jobs may not transition directly to building electric pickups, and the distance between Glendale and Louisville complicates any straightforward redeployment. Kentucky’s incentive database shows layered retention and expansion agreements across Ford’s footprint, yet those incentives do not guarantee retraining, relocation, or hiring for displaced battery workers. With the new truck not slated to launch until 2027, timing gaps could leave some employees facing months or even years without comparable work.
A Rate Case That Hits Ratepayers
Large industrial overhauls demand significant new electricity, and Kentucky Utilities recently sought approval to raise customer rates in a base-rate case before the Kentucky Public Service Commission. The proceeding, filed as Docket 2025-00113, concluded with a Final Order issued on February 16, 2026. Base-rate cases determine how much regulated utilities can charge residential, commercial, and industrial customers to recover infrastructure and operating costs, meaning the commission’s decision directly affects monthly electric bills.
The timing highlights the intersection of industrial policy, corporate strategy, and household budgets. Grid upgrades required to power retooled auto plants and battery facilities create cost pressures that utilities typically distribute across their customer base. Although the PSC docket does not name Ford as the primary driver of the rate request, the overlap between a nearly $2 billion plant overhaul and a utility seeking higher rates in the same service territory is notable. Residents who never work in an auto plant could still absorb some of the grid costs over time, even as they face broader cost-of-living pressures from higher electric bills.
Ford’s Broader EV Retreat Adds Pressure
These Kentucky developments unfold amid a broader pullback from electric vehicles. In December 2025, Ford informed investors it would take a $19.5 billion charge as it scrapped or scaled back several EV programs, citing weaker demand and shifting federal policy. That writedown far exceeds the $3 billion impairment linked to the BlueOval SK transaction and signals that Ford no longer views its once-ambitious EV portfolio as uniformly promising. Instead, the company is narrowing its focus to projects it believes can withstand policy changes and uneven consumer demand, with Louisville’s electric pickup now a central effort.
This backdrop raises the stakes for Kentucky. Ford is effectively betting $1.9 billion that an electric midsize pickup will attract sufficient buyers by the 2027 production launch, even as it reports significant losses on earlier EV investments. Federal research spending on advanced batteries and drivetrains, documented in DOE archives and ARPA-E initiatives, has helped reduce costs and improve performance, but public funding alone cannot ensure consumer adoption of every new model. If electric truck demand slows further or policy incentives weaken, Louisville could encounter challenges similar to those that undercut the original BlueOval SK vision, leaving state and local leaders to defend generous subsidies that may not deliver lasting stability for workers or ratepayers.
What Kentucky Workers and Ratepayers Face Next
For Kentucky’s workforce, the immediate challenge lies in navigating a transition that appears orderly in financial reports but unsettled in practice. Battery-plant employees confronting layoffs must decide whether to wait for potential openings at Louisville Assembly, retrain for other industries, or relocate in search of comparable wages. State officials have promoted incentive packages and workforce programs to ease the shift, yet the gap between policy plans and lived realities can be significant, especially when new jobs differ in location, skill requirements, or timing. Communities that anticipated sustained EV investment may instead experience a cycle of short-term construction work followed by fewer permanent roles than initially promised.
Ratepayers are also entangled in the state’s industrial strategy. The PSC’s rate order will shape how Kentucky Utilities allocates grid costs between households and large industrial users, with long-term implications for family budgets. If Ford’s retooled plant thrives, supporters may argue that higher rates were a reasonable trade-off for preserving thousands of jobs and maintaining Kentucky’s role in North American vehicle production. If the project struggles or EV demand weakens further, residents could conclude they were asked to support a corporate gamble that failed to deliver. Ultimately, the developments surrounding Ford’s Kentucky operations extend beyond one company’s strategy, raising broader questions about how the energy transition’s risks and rewards are shared among workers, corporations, and the public.
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