Bellows named CEO at KORE Power as company halts Arizona expansion
January 31, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti Feb. 3 UPDATE: This story was updated with news of KORE Power’s decision to halt development of a giant production facility in Arizona.
Jay Bellows, KORE Power CEO. Photo courtesy KORE Power
Battery energy storage manufacturer KORE Power announced on Friday that it has named Jay Bellows in Waterbury as its Chief Executive Officer.
Bellows has been president of the company since 2022 and prior to that was president and CEO at Northern Reliability, one of the country’s first renewable energy companies that began in 1974 in Vermont.
Bellows’ promotion came amidst other big company news late last week. The Phoenix Business Journal was the first to report on Friday that the company has decided to pull the plug on plans for a massive battery production facility that’s been in the planning and development stages for the past several years.
The $1 billion facility designed for a 214-acre site in Buckeye, Arizona, made its way through a permitting process last year. The first phase of the project was to be under construction in 2024 and operational in 2025, according to published reports.
The online news site In Buckeye reported on Saturday: “The Idaho-based company had promised to create 3,000 technology jobs and start production by late 2024 or early 2025, but progress stalled as it worked to secure financing and approvals. KORE received site plan approvals last year and an $850 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy but failed to break ground.”
Facility construction had not yet begun, but In Buckeye reported that $10 million in site work has been done on the property that is now for sale and that the general contractor for that work has filed a lien against KORE.
The Arizona Republic on Saturday shared a statement from the company confirming the decision to halt its plans for the Buckeye plant: “The company has recently undertaken a restructuring to provide more benefit to our customers and position the company for long-term success,” KORE said in an emailed statement. “Plans for the KOREPlex in Buckeye, Arizona, will not move forward at this time.”
The plant was to be built in two phases totaling approximately 2 million square feet across more than a dozen buildings located in a commercial development about 40 minutes west of Phoenix, according to project site plans.
Meanwhile in Vermont, KORE Power has explored much more modest expansion plans beyond its Pilgrim Park facility in Waterbury. In September, the Barre Town Development Review Board approved the company’s application for a permit to open a battery assembly and storage facility in a commercial building on Pitman Road. The space – just under 25,000 square feet – is to be leased from Malone Properties where a staffer there on Monday said KORE Power has not yet signed a lease.
Jay Bellows speaks at a 2022 event to unveil NOMAD mobile power units inside the KORE Power production facility in downtown Waterbury. File photo by Gordon Miller
Leadership transition
In the company announcement of his new role, Bellows reflected on the trajectory the company has seen in Vermont. “With a history of delivering energy storage solutions that goes back over 50 years, the team at KORE Power is ready to drive the future of energy with products and innovations made here in the United States, and reflects those five decades' worth of experience,” Bellows said.
Lindsay Gorrill, who founded KORE Power seven years ago, announced Bellows’ promotion in an email to company employees and investors on Friday. “I am pleased to announce that Jay Bellows, a vital KORE executive team member, will succeed me as CEO. Jay’s leadership, strategic insight, and profound understanding of KORE’s mission qualify him to lead KORE into its next growth phase,” Gorrill said. “This internal promotion highlights our leadership team’s strength and commitment to continuity and long-term success.”
Gorrill will remain on the company’s board of directors to have a role in helping guide the future of the company, according to the announcement.
KORE entered the Vermont market in 2020 when it began working with Northern Reliability on a then-new project to create mobile large-scale battery-storage units. That effort led to the creation of NOMAD Transportable Power which has since become its own division within KORE Power.
In March 2022, KORE acquired Northern Reliability and immediately began growing its operation in Waterbury. As president of KORE for nearly three years, Bellows oversaw the expansion of the company’s workforce and product line including its range of LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) and NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery units. He guided KORE’s multimillion-dollar expansion in Waterbury’s Pilgrim Park commercial center in space previously occupied by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
In that time, the Waterbury facility has allowed KORE to dramatically increase its annual production capacity from battery units capable of storing 60 MWh of power to those capable of storing 3,400 MWh, according to the company announcement.
KORE Power’s headquarters has remained in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, since the 2022 Vermont acquisition, but company spokesman David Jakubiak said Bellows will not be moving as a result of his new position. “In fact, KORE’s headquarters is moving to Waterbury,” he said.
The consolidation will mean some additional staff will be added to the Waterbury location which has grown over the past several years from 22 to 90 employees today, the company said. “Almost all of KORE’s employees are already in Vermont,” Jakubiak said.
Going forward as CEO, Bellows will lead the continued growth of KORE Power’s manufacturing capacity and expansion of product offerings and services, the company said.
KORE Power is considered a leading vertically integrated, U.S.-based manufacturer of battery energy storage equipment. KORE’s customers include utilities, energy storage and mobile energy companies, and other industrial and defense clients.
Bellows lives in Waterbury with his family and is active in the community as Harwood Union High School’s Varsity Boys Basketball coach.