Butler County officials having town hall about Cleveland-Cliffs
The payroll at the Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works plant is significantly higher than any other business in Butler County at around $100 million annually, according to Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche.
A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Energy would undermine Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) — produced domestically only at Butler Works — which Osche said would have ripple effects on every community in Butler County. She said the loss of one manufacturing job typically results in the loss of two or more jobs that support that manufacturer.
“First of all, you take the property taxes, you're talking about $1.5 million, which primarily affects school districts; another $1 million in local taxes to many, many municipalities where the employees work,” Osche said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, will host a public town hall on Monday, April 1, alongside officials from Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works and United Auto Workers Local 3303 regarding a U.S. Department of Energy proposal that could eliminate 1,300 Butler jobs.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ Butler Works plant is the last domestic producer of GOES — a necessary component of the nation's electrical grid. Switching electrical distribution transformers from GOES to amorphous steel poses risks to the U.S. supply chain and national security because major amorphous steel producers are located overseas, according to a news release from Kelly’s office.
Kelly said the loss of jobs at Cleveland-Cliffs would impact the entire Butler County economy. He compared the potential loss of jobs at Butler Works to the closing of Pullman Company’s Butler base in 1982.
“We’re also talking about the thousands of other local jobs that are connected to these jobs at Butler Works. The coffee shops, the restaurants, the stores who serve the workers from Butler Works,” Kelly said Thursday, March 21. “When Pullman left, many of the other jobs went with them. We can’t see that happen to Butler again.”
A proposal finalizing those energy standards could be released in May and, if adopted, would come into effect in 2027, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Jamie Sychak, president of UAW Local 3303, said the Department of Energy began talks to update the standards in January 2023. After being alerted to the DOE proposal by Sychak last year, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce relayed its potential impact to local businesses and organizations. Organizations could send letters in conjunction with the chamber to the DOE to help demonstrate how the proposal would affect Butler County.
Kelly and Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-17th, introduced the Distribution Transformer Efficiency & Supply Chain Reliability Act of 2024, which would prevent the DOE rule from taking effect, if passed. The act would also create new standards that increase the energy efficiency of distribution transformers at levels that preserve market opportunities for GOES as well as amorphous steel.
Sychak said the efficiency of amorphous steel cores are only marginally more efficient than grain oriented cores. He also said local legislators have been supportive of the Butler Works plant and his efforts to raise awareness about the potential mandate.
County commissioners have sent a letter to the Department of Energy alerting the department to the importance of the Butler Works plant to the local community, according to Osche.
Additionally, Osche said all three county commissioners plan to attend the town hall, all united against the potential loss of jobs for the county. She added the loss of revenue for businesses and charities would ripple to many more effects in Butler County.
“We could be talking about as much as $3 million annually in contributions to churches, charities, all that sustain the community,” Osche said. “There is not any good reason for anyone in the country to want this.”
The town hall begins at 6 p.m. April 1 at Founders Hall at Butler County Community College, 107 College Drive in Butler Township.
