We presume this is what the Governor’s 2:45 P.M. press conference is all about, but General Electric just announced that it plans to invest $69 million to retool “Appliance Park” in Louisville. The redone factory will produce a hybrid water heater that will use less than half the energy of current models.

From Reuters:

The “hybrid” water heaters will couple an electric heating element with a heat pump, which can transfer heat from the air around the appliance to the water within. Heat pumps are less effective in colder areas.

The union that represents GE workers at the Louisville facility agreed to a wage freeze through 2011 as part of negotiations to locate the jobs at that facility.

-SNIP-

GE expects to begin production on the new style of water heater in 2011, and targets peak production of 300,000 units per year. They will carry a retail price of about $1,500, but Campbell declined to provide GE’s revenue target for the product.

Will anyone be able to afford these new rigs? Here’s hoping. Because saving 4,000 jobs is a big deal to Kentucky.