Key takeaways:
- Fremont, California has more than doubled its number of manufacturing jobs since 2018, from 30,000 to 70,000, while maintaining a very high quality of life for residents.
- Ensuring rapid access to electric power has been crucial in attracting manufacturers to the city.
- Bloom Energy provides fast time to power for Fremont-based manufacturers.
- Fremont’s Director of Economic Development points to more jobs, increased city revenue, and improved city services as direct benefits of the city’s focus on rapid access to power.
On the edge of Silicon Valley, the city of Fremont is showing how enabling more rapid industrial growth goes hand-in-hand with improving quality of life. It’s got grassy, rolling hills, a wetland wildlife refuge, some of the most livable neighborhoods in the country—and one of the biggest manufacturing hubs in the state of California.
That’s not a coincidence, says Donovan Lazaro, Director of Economic Development for the city.
“You can draw a direct line between these manufacturing facilities that we’re standing up and Fremont’s ability to expand our parks, have better-maintained facilities and roads, and hire more firefighters, police, and city staff,” says Lazaro. “All of these different services that people want benefit significantly from the industrial growth that we’re seeing.”
Fremont has more than doubled the number of manufacturing jobs since 2018, from 30,000 to 70,000. It’s now home to more than 900 manufacturing sites of varying scale, including the country’s biggest Tesla factory, which produces more cars than any other automotive plant in the U.S, and Bloom Energy, the leader in on-site power.
A big part of its economic success is the alignment between Fremont’s city government, elected officials, and the city’s Office of Economic Development. That team, which Donovan likens to a “municipal startup,” works to ensure that companies setting up new plants in the city can get approvals in an efficient way. They also work with Bloom Energy to ensure rapid availability of electric power, which is a key constraint to industrial and commercial growth in many locales. If the grid capacity isn’t available right away, Bloom-powered microgrids can provide what they need. And that’s helped Fremont’s economic development team win again and again.
It’s a lesson that many other municipalities can learn from: Provide a streamlined path to approval, remove local regulatory uncertainties, and facilitate rapid time to power, and industrial growth will follow.
“If we can provide speed and certainty, we’re going to win disproportionately,” Lazaro says.
The happiest city in the U.S.
Fremont’s 230,000 citizens live in what a recent study called “the happiest city in the U.S.” The study ranked Fremont tops for emotional and physical well-being. It’s walkable, the weather is pleasant, and people are healthy.
One reason it’s so livable is thanks to a decades-long history of fostering industrial economic development. General Motors built an auto plant here in 1965, and it’s been operating since then. (It’s now the Tesla plant.) The manufacturing base grew from there, with years of thoughtful stewardship by the city.
Along with that commitment to growth has come a need to understand the power grid so the city could ensure that industrial facilities have the power they need.
To keep Fremont’s economy humming, the city is zoned to keep manufacturing facilities separate from residential and commercial areas. Within the industrial zones, getting approvals and permits for new facilities is a streamlined process.
Lazaro describes his job to manufacturers and developers like this: “Our job is to sit on your side of the table and be an advocate for your needs, to remove barriers and obstacles and to instill confidence in investing in Fremont.”
That approach makes Fremont stand out. “We’re really keen on retaining the innovation that is developed here in the Bay Area and giving it room to scale and thrive,” Lazaro says.
The time-to-power opportunity
Despite these advantages, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Many U.S. cities and counties have recently learned that the availability of electric power limits growth. Even with its robust grid, Fremont has faced this challenge, too. Lazaro’s team learned early on that fast time to power makes an enormous difference in being able to attract and grow industrial and commercial companies.
A big part of Fremont’s success is its ability to help deliver power rapidly, with a multi-pronged approach that includes a robust traditional grid allocation as well as microgrid capabilities from Bloom Energy. Fremont’s economic development team realized early on that they needed to become “grid literate” to help industrial customers set up in the city. They now act as facilitators, bridging conversations between companies and the local utility to help companies get the power they need.
The local utility provides hundreds of megawatts of power to Fremont’s many customers. But it also oversees an enormous and complex grid that covers much of the state. Wildfire-related costs and compliance with the state’s utilities commission challenge it even further. Getting a new connection to the grid can take years.
Fremont recognized that many commercial and industrial companies needed to supplement grid power if they wanted to get up and running quickly. They found the perfect partner in Bloom Energy, which has been operating a manufacturing plant in Fremont since July 2022. Bloom Energy Server® fuel cell systems can provide manufacturers and industrial customers with megawatts of generation capacity within a few weeks, rather than years. Plus, they’re climate-friendly, pocketbook-friendly, and neighborhood-friendly.
They’re compact, too. Bloom Energy Server systems are modular and can be stacked alongside a manufacturing facility. “Bloom not only bridges the time to energization but also supplements the grid allocation from the utility,” Lazaro says.
Fast time to power creates jobs
With a comprehensive approach to fostering industrial growth that combines intelligent zoning, streamlined permitting, “grid literacy,” and a compelling microgrid solution to supplement grid power, Fremont’s economic development strategy is paying off.
Bloom’s ability to provide fast time to power has helped Fremont win and keep several manufacturers who would otherwise have located their plants in Nevada, Texas, or Tennessee, Lazaro says.
Now, there are six manufacturers in the city actively using Bloom fuel cell systems.
“This has been really the closest thing to a silver bullet that we’ve had,” Lazaro says.
With more jobs and investment, the city has a bigger tax base, which enables it to invest in roads, parks, and more.
Education is a particular emphasis for Fremont—no surprise in a city where 63% of residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher. The city helped set up an “Earn to Learn” pipeline that helps students in the local community college learn trades and get jobs with local manufacturers. And it hosts a big “Manufacturing Week” event every year—one of the largest in the country—where high school and college students can visit factories and learn about the technologies and opportunities in manufacturing.
Bucking the manufacturing trends
Attracting and retaining manufacturing jobs is never easy, but Fremont has managed to grow its manufacturing base and add jobs.
“2026 has been a transformative year for our manufacturing sector. We’ve had the equivalent of nearly one new facility being announced every week,” Lazaro says.
Providing rapid access to grid and microgrid power has been essential to helping Fremont attract and retain manufacturers. With the rapid time to power afforded by Bloom’s Energy Server systems, other cities can do the same.
To find out more, contact Bloom.
The insights, projections, and forward-looking statements contained here are for informational purposes only. These are based on assumptions and information currently available.
