BUTLER, Pa. — On Tuesday, October 6, U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) joined U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, and other local officials at Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works plant to highlight recent investments into the plant’s production of Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES).
Officials shared the progress of the Cleveland-Cliffs’ $200 million investment in Butler Works, supported by a $75 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy, which will strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity for a critical material used in electrical transformers that support the nation’s power grid.
“Thanks to the support of Secretary Wright and the Trump administration, we are strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity for a critical material used in electrical transformers that support the nation’s power grid. This steel powering the world is made right here in Butler,” said Rep. Kelly.
Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works is the only steel manufacturer in the United States that produces GOES, a critical component for electrical distribution transformers. Securing this supply chain is not only important for local jobs, but also for our national security.
In 2024, Kelly led opposition to a Department of Energy rule that would have required transformers to use amorphous metal instead of grain-oriented electrical steel under strict energy efficiency standards. Pressure from Kelly and members of UAW Local 3303 ultimately forced the Biden administration to revise its rule, protecting the more than 1,300 jobs at the Butler Works plant.
Also in 2024, Kelly and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) introduced The Distribution Transformer Efficiency & Supply Chain Reliability Act of 2024, legislation that would prevent the DOE rule from taking effect and instead create new standards that increase the energy efficiency of distribution transformers at levels that preserve market opportunities for GOES as well as amorphous steel.
Tagged with manufacturing, steel