Brown joins steelworkers at future site of Cleveland-Cliffs Transformer Manufacturing Plant

WEIRTON, W.Va. — On Thursday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Cleveland-Cliffs leadership and USW Local 2911 members at the site of the future transformer manufacturing plant that Cleveland-Cliffs is building at its former tin mill in Weirton, West Virginia.

This facility will employ workers from Jefferson County, Ohio, and the surrounding region.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced the new electrical transformer manufacturing plant last month. The new plant was made possible by Brown’s successful work pushing the Department of Energy to fix its deeply flawed regulations that would have stifled investments like this.

Brown had led efforts to stand up for Ohio Steelworkers, pushing for stronger trade enforcement to protect the workers at the tin mill, and since its idling, working to bring steel jobs back to the region.

“Because we stood up to the Biden Administration and stopped a deeply flawed Department of Energy rule, Cleveland-Cliffs is bringing this plant back to life to produce transformers, made with American steel made by Ohio workers. Ohio Steelworkers can compete with anyone – they just need a level playing field and a government willing to fight for them. We never gave up on this plant, these workers, and this community, because I will never stop fighting for Ohio workers,” said Brown.

“With this investment in Weirton, Cleveland-Cliffs will address the critical shortage of distribution transformers that is stifling economic growth across the United States. This new plant will provide employment opportunities for hundreds of skilled workers from USW Local 2911 and utilize highly-efficient Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) produced by Cleveland-Cliffs in Zanesville, Ohio and Butler, Pennsylvania. Our transformational investment in Weirton would not have been possible without Senator Brown’s tireless advocacy to ensure that the Department of Energy’s transformer efficiency standards provide for the continued use of GOES produced in the United States by union workers,” said Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

“We are extremely grateful to Senator Brown for his long term and continued support to provide Union jobs in our region. With his assistance in the near future, we will be making much needed transformers here in Weirton that will be made from steel produced by Unionized American workers in Butler and Zanesville that will decrease our dependency on China and Mexico and provide energy independence for all Americans. Today is truly a day of celebration. Thank you, Sherrod Brown,” said John Saunders, USW District 1 Staff Representative.

Brown led successful bipartisan efforts to push the Department of Energy to overhaul its proposed rule that would have required all electrical distribution transformers to shift from the industry standard grain oriented electrical steel (GOES) cores to amorphous cores.

Officials say this would have devastated U.S. electrical steel manufacturers – including Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs – and would have made investment in American production of transformers, using American-made steel, infeasible.

In January, Brown and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Distribution Transformer Efficiency & Supply Chain Reliability Act of 2024 , bipartisan legislation that would set realistic energy efficiency standards that support domestic transformer manufacturing.

According to officials, this bill built upon another bipartisan Senate effort from last June when Brown, Cruz, and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) sent a bipartisan letter to Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm signed by an additional 13 Democrats and 32 Republicans calling on the Department to fix the proposed standards.

In March, Brown stood up for workers in Weirton by demanding stronger trade enforcement to protect Ohio jobs and fight back against countries that illegally dump and subsidize products into the U.S.

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on manufacturing, Brown called for a trade policy that builds out domestic supply chains and boosts American manufacturing against foreign competition.

Previously, Brown and Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) visited the Weirton tin mill to stand with workers, Cleveland-Cliffs management, and USW to push for a level playing field.

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