Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc. is investing $150 million in a Post Falls manufacturing facility to meet the company's high demand for power grid protection products.

The Post Falls acquisition follows the Pullman, Washington-based manufacturer's $150 million investment in a facility in Nampa, Idaho, and the ongoing construction of a $50 million facility in Moscow, Idaho.

The price tag for the Post Falls investment includes the total cost to set up a new facility, including the purchase of an existing building, updating infrastructure, hiring and relocating employees, the acquisition and installation of equipment, and engineering, says Dave Whitehead, president of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. 

The company expects to hire about 250 employees to work at the new facility once it comes online in 2027.

“My expectation is that Post Falls is a great area to hire people, and not only from Post Falls, but from the Liberty Lake and the Valley area too,” Whitehead says. “It's a very easy commute to get to the facility on Interstate 90, and I really expect we'll draw most of our labor from the Post Falls area and the Spokane Valley area.”

Faster data center development worldwide has led to electric utility companies to source more power grid protection devices from Schweitzer in the last several years, Whitehead explains. Schweitzer is expanding its manufacturing capability to reduce lead times and meet client demand.

“In the past, our utility customers were ecstatic if their year-over-year growth was about (1.5%),” he says. “Today, you go talk to a big utility and their growth is 10% or more. That demand flows down through the supply chain, and (Schweitzer) and the products and services we build are a critical component of that. That’s really the big driver for all of this growth.”

Schweitzer selected Post Falls for a new location due to its proximity to the company’s Spokane Valley facility, at 13518 E. Indiana, Whitehead says. The Spokane Valley property doesn’t have any manufacturing capacity; it houses employees from research and development and engineering divisions who support Schweitzer's manufacturing division.

At the Post Falls site, Schweitzer will install a variety of automated equipment, including large ovens that melt solder, surface-mount technology lines for assembly, a test facility for fully assembled devices, and other equipment.

Schweitzer has not yet completed the purchase of the building, and Whitehead declines to disclose the address or size of the Post Falls facility. However, the site is similar to a separate manufacturing property the company acquired in Nampa in September, Whitehead says. 

Located at 1406 N. Galleria Drive, Schweitzer's new Nampa facility is expected to come online by the end of 2027. The site will manufacture power grid protection systems used to prevent blackouts and improve power system reliability, says Whitehead, noting that the Post Falls building will be larger than the 103,000-square-foot Nampa building.

The Nampa facility also will employ around 250 people. Over the next several years, Whitehead says both the Post Falls and Nampa facilities will employ an estimated 1,000 people combined.

Separately from Post Falls and Nampa, Schweitzer is developing a third, 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Moscow, expected to be completed by the end of 2027, Whitehead says. The $50 million facility is currently under construction also will employ approximately 1,000 people, the company’s website states.

Combined, the three Idaho facilities will more than double the company’s manufacturing capacity.

“Idaho has certainly been a very easy state to work in,” Whitehead says. “Each year, Schweitzer generates what we call the Economic Index of Freedom, and from a regulatory, business environment, and engineering or energy security perspective, Idaho is top five this year.”

According to Schweitzer's 2026 Index of Freedom, an annual evaluation of the business climate across all 50 states, Idaho ranks fifth in the nation for government efficiency, regulatory freedom, and energy resiliency.

Washington ranks No. 38, according to the index. However, Whitehead says Schweitzer is committed to its Washington facilities, including its headquarters in Pullman and engineering facility in Spokane Valley.

Schweitzer operates facilities in Pullman; Lewiston, Idaho; West Lafayette, Indiana; and Lake Zurich, Illinois, which manufactures similar power grid-protection products, he says. The company also operates regional factories in Charlotte, North Carolina; San Luis Potosí, Mexico; Bogota, Colombia; and Campinas, Brazil.

Just under 9,000 employees work at Schweitzer worldwide, says Whitehead.

“We’re just excited to continue to expand our manufacturing capability in the Pacific Northwest. This is a great place to do business, and we’re excited to hire even more local folks,” says Whitehead.