Governor says energy mandate affecting Cleveland-Cliffs nixed
Gov. Josh Shapiro said during a Wednesday, March 27, visit to Butler County, that President Joe Biden’s administration has stopped a U.S. Department of Energy mandate that would have potentially cut 1,300 jobs at the Cleveland-Cliffs’ Butler Works plant.
The announcement follows a letter Shapiro wrote to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, urging it to reconsider a mandate that would raise efficiency standards from grain-oriented electrical steel energy cores in favor of amorphous steel cores. A union official from the Butler Works plant, the only manufacturer of grain-oriented electrical steel within the U.S., is optimistic, but is not convinced the fight is over.
Shapiro said during a visit to Pennsylvania Laborers’ Training Center that he relayed the devastating economic effects the mandate would have to the Butler County area to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Biden administration.
“We engaged on that issue, spoke directly to the energy secretary, directly to members of the Biden administration and let them know just how concerning I thought those rules were,” Shapiro said, “and the speed with which they wanted to implement them and the devastating effect that would have on workers.”
In his letter to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated March 13, Shapiro wrote that increased demand for transformers across the country would be hindered by the stoppage of the creation of grain-oriented electrical steel.
He also wrote that a slow down on the implementation of the mandate could even allow for the Butler Works plant to transition to making amorphous steel cores. If the mandate were to take effect within a three-year time frame, Shapiro said, more than 1,000 jobs could be lost at the Butler Works plant.
Jamie Sychak, United Auto Workers Local 3303 president, plans to continue his fight to secure jobs at the Butler Township plant, despite the governor’s reassurance.
Sychak said he heard that Shapiro’s letter had caused the Department of Energy to rethink the proposed mandate, but the official proposal of the rule won’t be released until June. Other sources have told Sychak that the proposal had not changed, which has led him to continue speaking with legislators about stopping to the potential mandate.
“I contacted the governor's office, and no one could confirm any more than a receipt from the letter,” Sychak said. “We greatly appreciate everyone’s efforts on this, but the rule has not changed.
“Until this is definitively, absolutely fixed, I'm going to keep talking to people about it.”
Sychak also said the Butler Works plant’s opportunity for a $75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is a separate matter, and one that has been in the works for more than a year. The plant’s receipt of the grant — which a Cleveland-Cliffs news release said would secure 1,300 jobs at the Butler Township plant — has nothing to do with the proposed mandate, Sychak said.
“The rule going away has no bearing on whether or not (the grant) was awarded,” he said.
Shapiro added Wednesday that he has spoken with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and is working “really closely” with the energy department. He said the recent grant opportunity for the Butler Works plant — up to $75 million — could have been an effect of the state administration’s working relationship with the department.
“We’re constantly leaning in and asking them for more resources to be able to create more jobs and more opportunity,” Shapiro said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, announced that he is hosting a town hall on the mandate Monday evening, April 1, featuring key players at Cleveland-Cliffs and local officials. He said he has invited Granholm to attend the town hall as well.
The town hall begins at 6 p.m. April 1 at Founders Hall at Butler County Community College, 107 College Drive in Butler Township.
