-September 9,2021-
This month Kern County has been hit by a wave of business closures in both the insurance and oil industries- mainstays of the local economy. State Farm Insurance will discontinue their operations center in Bakersfield, laying off 230 according to a state WARN notice.The company released a statement saying “As we first announced in 2017, State Farm® projected we would exit the Bakersfield Operations Center in 2021. Late last year, we shared that we plan to exit the facility by the end of October 2021.”
The office once boasted 1300 employees. State Farm has been consolidating offices in California and now seems to be moving more services to Texas.
The operations center is located in Bakersfield’s largest office complex on Old River Rd – now owned by a bankrupt oil company California Resources Corp, who has also announced layoffs in the county.
In related news, oil giant Basic Energy Services announced layoffs of around 800 in Kern County in the past few weeks.The company also known as C&J Well Service is in bankruptcy and is being targeted for a court backed acquisition by Berry Corp to takeover the Basic Energy business in California.
Electric cars gain traction
The California New Car Dealers Association says combined hybrid and electric vehicle market share during the first quarter of 2021 exceeded 20%. That is about double the market share it was in 2017 as more buyers are electing electric cars or hybrids. To encourage more buyers, the energy commission says the state will need nearly 1.2 million public and shared chargers by 2030 to meet the fueling demands of the 7.5 million passenger plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) anticipated to be on California roads.
Trucks are next and the California Energy Commission expects 157,000 chargers will be required by 2030 to support 180,000 medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks and buses also anticipated.