Heron Power is setting up shop in California. They just chose Morgan Hill for their first big factory. The company is turning an old 286,000-square-foot warehouse south of San Jose into a new manufacturing facility.

They will build the Heron Link, a 5-megawatt power system for large energy and data center projects. The plan is to make 10,000 units a year, equaling more than 40 gigawatts of power, which is about 75% of all new capacity added to the U.S. grid in 2025.

Heron is putting over $100 million into the factory. This brings 600 new jobs to the state. Site prep starts now, and mass production begins in late 2027.

Fixing the Electricity Problem

Heron Factory One; Photo: Heron Power

Advertisement

While solar, electric cars, and computing have advanced quickly, the power grid equipment hasn’t kept up. A lot of it uses old mechanical parts that are expensive and hard to find. It struggles to handle the heavy demand from new AI data centers. And worse, the U.S. imports over 80% of critical grid components, such as transformers.

Heron Link shrinks multiple pieces of grid equipment into a single, smaller unit, run by smart software. It works better, takes up less physical space, and helps large data centers support the grid rather than stress it.

“America’s grid has to grow faster than it has in decades. We’re seeing new demand from AI and EVs, and at the same time new supply from solar and storage,” said Drew Baglino, CEO and Founder of Heron Power. “The equipment running the grid hasn’t changed in fifty years. Heron Factory One in Morgan Hill is how we fix that. We’re manufacturing the leapfrog technology our grid needs, at scale, in America first.”

The location is close to Heron’s headquarters and taps into the Bay Area’s deep talent pool. A $26.4 million state tax credit helped seal the deal.

“Heron Power is building the technology that will make America’s grid faster, more efficient, and more reliable, and we’re proud to support their expansion in California through CalCompetes,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of GO-Biz. “Heron Power is the latest company betting on California workers — and we’re betting on them right back. Their new facility adds more than 600 good-paying jobs and represents a direct investment in the energy infrastructure of the future, built right here in the Golden State.”