Saved from closing, Butler steel plant catches eye of officials from Harrisburg to Washington

LYNDORA, Pa. — A federal environmental ruling could have resulted in the shutdown of a Butler County steel plant, but it will instead stay open thanks to a push by union workers and an influx of up to $75 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm visited the Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works steel plant — which will receive the funding to convert to an energy-efficient facility — in Butler Township on Monday.

She toured the plant and spoke with a panel of company and government officials, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-16, Butler), to discuss the measures to save the plant.

The plant will use the funding to electrify the production of high-silicon, grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES), which is a critical component for transformers and the electricity sector. The plant is the last American producer of GOES.

“Our nation was built by steel and will be made by steel made in the United States,” Granholm said. “This is about the next generation. We want all of these products made in America.”

As a result of the funding, the plant’s roughly 1,300 workers will keep their jobs.

The workers, who are from as far west as eastern Ohio, are members of United Auto Workers Local 3303.

Granholm said the investment into the plant will save over $14 billion in energy costs and reduce carbon dioxide pollution by over 85 million metric tons.

The DOE this year finalized new energy efficiency standards for GOES to help reduce emissions.

This would have caused the plant to close because of the costs involved to switch the level of production.

UAW 3303 President Jamie Sychak said the new standards for the plant were recommended by more than 200 environmental experts.

When the original environmental ruling was proposed in January 2023, plant workers began campaigning to save the plant, reaching elected officials all the way up to President Joe Biden.

“Thankfully, we had the best people at the right time,” Sychak said.

Sychak said Biden and Granholm listened to the concerns of the workers, leading to the agreement and grant funding.

“This process has not been easy. I’m so grateful that you made your voices heard,” Granholm said.

Biden mentioned the investment in the plant during an April 16 speech at the U.S. Steel headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh.

“Last month, my administration announced the largest investment ever in clean manufacturing in American history, in all of American history,” Biden said. “It included up to $1.5 billion in six clean steel projects across America, $1.5 billion. It’s going to create and support thousands of union jobs, including at Butler Works over in Lyndora, Pennsylvania.”

In Pittsburgh, Biden called for tripling tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports, specifically from China, to encourage more American steel production.

He also decried U.S. Steel shareholders approving a $14.9 billion cash sale of the company to Japanese firm Nippon Steel, stating he will fight to keep the company American-owned and operated.

Daniel Vicente, UAW Region 9 director, said this collaboration is a microcosm of how government and its citizens should work.

Kelly instead said the UAW workers deserve all of the credit.

“It’s because of you and movement leadership,” Kelly said.

He and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17) originally wrote a letter to the DOE and introduced a proposed piece of legislation to address GOES, but wasn’t acted upon until the UAW spoke up directly.

Kelly, on April 2, hosted a public town hall at Butler County Community College, with 525 people in attendance. Two days later, the DOE announced the reworked energy standards and the grant for the plant.

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the plant on April 12.

Deluzio said he is proud of the workers standing up for their jobs, while also noting the country needs to make sure manufacturing jobs remain in the United States, not shipped overseas.