Gazette.net is reporting that BP Solar’s Frederick, Maryland facility will close by the end of the first quarter 2012 citing costs and a change in company focus as the main factors for the plants closure. In March 2010, the company cut 320 jobs at the Maryland facility after 140 employees had already been let go in 2009.

Pete Resler, a spokesperson for BP Solar explained the company’s decision for closing its facility, stating, "We have announced a significant strategic change for the company," he said. "We are no longer going to be selling our modules through our distribution network around the world. That had historically been the major part of our business. We're going to focus solely on solar projects; for example we're in the final stages of constructing a 32MW facility on Long Island, [N.Y.]. Going forward, we're going to focus solely on that."

The announcement that the plant will be permanently be closing by next March has left nearly 80 employees displaced from their jobs. Resler advised the Gazette that he did not know what would happen to the current employees, but speculated that some might relocate to the company’s Houston, Texas headquarters.

"If you look at the facility here, it was originally a manufacturing facility," Resler said. "We shut down our manufacturing about a year ago. That left around 100 employees at that time. It's a much too large facility for us to maintain for a smaller number of employees. It's a cost decision."