GE to close two Ky. plants; more than 200 jobs lost

GE Lighting announced Thursday that it plans to close its Lexington Lamp Plant and Somerset Glass Plant by August 2017.

The Lexington plant, located at 1801 Edison Drive, in the Picadome neighborhood, makes traditional, non-LED lighting products. It employs 139 people, most of which are bulk manufacturing jobs.

The Somerset plant makes halogen lamps and employs 71 people.

In a release, a GE spokesperson said that consumer demand for traditional lighting is at an all-time low, and as a result, the Lexington plant is operating at 15 percent capacity.

"Looking forward, GE Lighting will focus entirely on driving innovation and growth in LED technology," the GE spokesperson said in a statement. "By 2020, half of the US market’s consumer light bulb sockets will be LED and more than 80 percent of all global lighting revenues will come from LED."

The Somerset plant was also operating at about 20 percent capacity due to the market shifting to LED lighting, said Jack Mazurak, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

"The Commonwealth, including the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, is responding in the immediacy," Mazurak added in a statement, "and will continue to work in the long term to lessen the impact to the affected GE lighting employees in Kentucky."

The decision is subject to a 60-day decision-bargaining period, the GE spokesperson said, which means that the local union has two months to ask for a different plan.

The union chapter in Lexington did not respond to WKYT's requests for comment on Thursday evening.

Today, GE Lighting announced its intent to close the Lexington Lamp Plant.

In the last decade, the lighting industry has seen a major technology pivot away from traditional lighting products including incandescent, halogen, and specialty linear fluorescent lamps. Consumer demand for traditional lighting is at an all-time low and that shift has been supported by the U.S. Government phasing out incandescent bulbs. As a result, the Lexington Lamp Plant is operating at 85% below capacity.

Looking forward, GE Lighting will focus entirely on driving innovation and growth in LED technology. By 2020, half of the US market’s consumer light bulb sockets will be LED and more than 80 percent of all global lighting revenues will come from LED.

The proposed closure is subject to a 60-day decision-bargaining period, if requested by the local union to offer alternatives to the plan. If the decision is to proceed, operations will be phased out by the end of August 2017.

GE announced plans to close its Lexington plant in 2017. It manufactures halogen lamps and employs 139 people but has been operating at less than 20 percent capacity due to the market shifting to LEDs. As well, the company today announced plans to close its halogen-light plant in Somerset, affecting 71 employees. It, too, has been operating at less than 20 percent capacity and closure is expected in 2017.

The Commonwealth, including the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, is responding in the immediacy and will continue to work in the long term to lessen the impact to the affected GE lighting employees in Kentucky.