Clayco Sues AESC Over $26.2M Unpaid Balance on Stalled SC Battery Plant
Clayco has filed a lien foreclosure lawsuit against AESC, seeking $26.2 million in unpaid work on a suspended $1.6 billion EV battery plant in Florence, South Carolina, ENR reports.
Japan-based AESC broke ground on the 1.5-million-sq-ft manufacturing facility in June 2023, with Clayco’s Greenville, S.C., office and Lamar Johnson Collaborative handling design-build services. Six months later, AESC announced plans to expand the project to support anticipated growth at BMW’s nearby Spartanburg assembly plant, with operations originally slated to begin in 2027.
Market Impact
AESC suspended the project in June 2025, citing market and federal policy uncertainty that had slowed financing, when the facility was roughly 75% complete. The project remains idled more than a year later despite AESC’s public statements that it remains committed to resuming construction.
A Clayco spokesperson says AESC has made partial payments on more than $1 billion of completed work but still owes $26.2 million. Clayco CEO Anthony Johnson said the contract has not been terminated and the firm has received no complaints about its performance. “AESC’s failure to honor its commitments has caused significant financial harm to subcontractors and Clayco, including substantial lost opportunities,” Johnson said, adding that Clayco used its own funds to pay subcontractors in full, including demobilization costs. “We intend to recover every dollar owed through all available legal remedies,” he said. AESC did not respond to ENR’s request for comment.
Separately, the City of Florence has completed water and sewer upgrades at the industrial park meant to support the AESC complex. Local officials say they hope the new infrastructure could attract other businesses to the site if the project is scaled back or canceled.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Confirm payment security language, such as lien rights, payment bonds, or joint check agreements, is in every subcontract before mobilizing on large EV or battery megaprojects, especially those still reliant on outside financing.
- Track demobilization cost coverage in contracts now: Clayco says it covered these costs out of pocket for its subs when AESC suspended work, a gap other GCs may not absorb.
- Firms with exposure to the Florence, S.C., site, including electrical, mechanical, and civil trades, should monitor the lien foreclosure case for precedent on how unpaid balances get resolved when an EV project stalls mid-construction.
- Before bidding new EV battery or gigafactory packages, verify the owner’s financing status and federal incentive dependency, since AESC cited policy uncertainty as a direct cause of the funding slowdown.
- Local subs and suppliers near Florence should watch whether the city’s completed water and sewer upgrades draw replacement tenants if AESC scales back, which could open new bid opportunities at the same industrial park.
