OKLAHOMA CITY – Companion measures that incentivize a Middle East company to build a $4 billion aluminum manufacturing plant in northeast Oklahoma were passed by the state Legislature last Thursday and were delivered to Gov. Kevin Stitt.
House Bill 2781 and Senate Bill 1000 cleared both chambers of the Legislature on May 22 and were transmitted to the governor’s office shortly before midnight, Rep. Trey Caldwell (R-Faxon) told Southwest Ledger. The governor has five days, excluding Sunday, to sign or veto the measures.
Emirates Global Aluminium, described as the world’s largest producer of ‘premium aluminum,’ selected Oklahoma as the preferred site for the first new primary aluminum production plant to be built in the United States in 45 years, since 1980.
The $4 billion project is expected to create 1,000 direct jobs, 1,800 indirect jobs, and enhance Oklahoma’s ability to significantly grow its manufacturing base.
EGA demonstrated its commitment by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with Stitt on April 21 which detailed the conditions of EGA’s investment in the state. The agreement was contingent upon the Oklahoma Legislature approving the terms outlined in the MOU – which was consummated Thursday.
“We’ve had four meetings with Emirates Global,” Caldwell told the Ledger last Friday. “They’ve done environmental studies and they have the land.”
The EGA facility will be located on more than 350 acres at the Tulsa Port of Inola, a 2,200acre industrial park with access to rail, barge transportation and global waterways.
When complete, the aluminum factory will be the largest of its kind in the U.S., producing billets, sheet ingots, high-purity aluminum, and foundry alloys. Initial production is anticipated by June 2026, Caldwell said. The Tulsa Ports monthly update reported EGA’s plant is expected to produce 600,000 tons of aluminum annually – nearly doubling domestic output and reducing America’s reliance on imports.
HB 2781 is entitled the “Reindustrialize Oklahoma Act of 2025” and was authored by Caldwell and Rep. John Kane (R-Bartlesville). Caldwell is chairman, and Kane is vice chairman, of the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget.
In HB 2781 the Legislature deems it “beneficial to the state and its citizens to provide large-scale enhanced economic development incentives to certain establishments, including but not limited to those associated with an onshoring of industrialization that creates a substantial number of jobs,” since that economic activity results in “a greater benefit” to Oklahoma.
The legislation creates, for the next 20 years, an investment rebate program “for the cost of qualified capital expenditures by establishments which create not less than a threshold number of new direct jobs…” The bill defines a “new direct job” to mean a full-time job in the company which did not previously exist in Oklahoma.
700-1,000 jobs within 2 years The threshold number of new direct jobs required for the company to qualify and remain qualified for investment rebate payments will be “700 new direct jobs in year one of the rebate payment period, with a threshold number of 1,000 beginning in year two and throughout the remainder of the rebate payment period.”
Eligibility for an investment rebate payment will require the company to submit to the state Commerce Department an application that outlines (1) a plan “associated with qualified capital expenditures” in this state “totaling no less than $2 billion,” and (2) job creation levels of no fewer than 700 new jobs, by Year 1 of the rebate period.
The jobs threshold increases to 1,000 by Year 2 and remains at that level for the remainder of the 15-year rebate period.
The State Treasurer will be directed to establish a funding stream for the rebate payments by purchasing a 15-year annuity from funds the Legislature appropriates to an ad hoc revolving fund after receiving confirmation from the Department of Commerce that a satisfactory feasibility study for the project has been completed.
Annuity distributions will then be transferred to the Beneficiary Fund each year to provide the Commerce Department with the money to issue rebate payments to the qualifying company.
HB 2781 passed the House of Representatives on a 56-34 vote May 20 and cleared the state Senate 36-9 on May 22.
Senate Bill 1000 will create the revolving fund and appropriate $225 million for the incentive payments. That bill passed both chambers of the Legislature on May 22, by a vote of 40-5 in the Senate and 64-13 in the House.
Principal authors of SB 1000 were Sens. Chuck Hall (R-Perry) and John Haste (R-Broken Arrow), chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Annual report to be prepared on incentive payments The $225 million will be used to pay Public Service Co. of Oklahoma’s electric bills for the aluminum plant, Caldwell said, “because that was the biggest concern of Emirates Global.”
In fact, the lawmaker said, a special tariff for Emirates Global Aluminium is expected to be created, at a “competitive rate,” as well as a Power Purchase Agreement. A PPA is a long-term contract between an electricity generator and a customer, during which time the purchaser buys energy from the provider at a pre-negotiated price.
In addition, because of the aluminum plant’s large power demands, “It’s my understanding that PSO will have to build 1,000 MWh of generation, which indicates to me a new power plant or two depending on the wind/ natural gas mixture rate,” Caldwell said.
EGA will receive the special incentive payments authorized in HB 2781, but will not be eligible for incentive payments under the state’s Quality Jobs Act.
The bill also instructs the state Commerce Department to submit an annual report, no later than Oct. 1 each year, to legislative leaders and the executive director of the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, “detailing the program” and its investment rebate payments.
EGA was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. EGA claims to produce “one in every 25 tons of aluminum made worldwide.”
Aluminum produced in Oklahoma will support the aerospace and defense sectors – Oklahoma’s fastest-growing industry – as well as the automotive, food and beverage, and other critical industries.
“The United States has been an important market for EGA for several decades, and we know there is strong demand for our high-quality metal ‘made in America,’” said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, chief executive officer of Emirates Global Aluminium.
“EGA has the skills, technology, and capital to start rebuilding this great American industry, and in Oklahoma I am confident we will secure the right conditions to do so. This is an important moment for EGA, and for the economic relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.”
Part of $200B agreement between U.S., UAE The Oklahoma announcement was part of President Trump’s and the White House’s unveiling of $200 billion in commercial agreements between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
“This is a monumental day for Oklahoma,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt. “We are proud to welcome Emirates Global Aluminium to our state and are excited for the generational impact this investment will have on our future. As President Trump looks to onshore our nation’s supply chain for critical minerals, Oklahoma is leading the way in this sector, thanks to our pro-business environment.”
“This investment marks a historic milestone for Oklahoma, national security and the future of American manufacturing, said Rep. Brian Hill (R-Mustang), chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Emirates Global Aluminium … to the Tulsa Port of Inola,” said Deanne Hughes, chair of the Tulsa Ports governing board.
EGA’s presence will spur new permanent job creation and increase waterway shipping on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, she said. She said the project also will generate tax revenues to support construction of new school facilities and enhance potable water infrastructure for the community of Inola, in Rogers County.