By Steven Symes 
The State of Georgia is moving ahead on suing six property owners in Morgan County for their role in opposing the Rivian assembly plant. That likely sounds shocking, but the state believes those individuals cost taxpayers dearly and want to recover funds.
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In fact, the state is looking to extract almost $1 million it paid out in legal fees over years of fighting over construction of the car assembly plant in the county. Those property owners organized the No2Rivian push, effectively delaying the facility for some time.
According to Morgan Citizen, the State of Georgia has argued the Morgan County residents used the legal system to “delay and harass” without any “substantial justification” for their legal actions. That’s the argument for making those six private parties split almost $1 million in legal fees.
However, Morgan County Board of Commissioners Chairman Blake McCormack is looking into how the local body can get the state to drop the case.
JoEllen Artz, one of the No2Rivian leaders issued a statement about the state’s legal action, denouncing it for punishing individuals who were “exercising their constitutional right to free speech.”
Rivian announced in March 2024 it was “pausing” construction of the assembly plant in Georgia. That move followed a significant workforce reduction the month before as EV demand started to decline.
But in December, Rivian was given $6.6 billion from the Biden administration to go ahead and build the manufacturing plant in Morgan County. That move raised eyebrows not just because it was done by a lame duck presidency, but also because the original estimate for construction was $5 billion. What was the extra $1.6 billion given for?
On top of that, the State of Georgia gave Rivian a $1.5 billion incentive package to build the plant.
Originally, the plan was for the more budget-friendly Rivian R2 and R3 to be assembled in Georgia. However, after construction of that facility was halted, it seems the plan has shifted to those models being produced in Illinois along with the R1S and R1T.
Image via Rivian