Deluzio Advocacy to Energy Department Protects Western Pennsylvania Steel Jobs, Shores Up Domestic Supply Chain, Strengthens Grid Reliability, Cuts Emissions, and Delivers Billions in Energy Savings
Department of Energy Released Finalized Energy-Efficiency Standards Responsive to Economic and National Security Concerns Raised by Rep. Deluzio and Other Pennsylvania Leaders
CARNEGIE, PA – Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced that after months of advocacy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized Congressionally-mandated energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers that support Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) production and protect union steel jobs in Western Pennsylvania, while still lowering energy costs and cutting emissions.
“The final Department of Energy rule announced today will protect American-made Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel and the jobs of hardworking UAW workers in Western Pennsylvania who make it,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio. “I am proud that the Biden Administration heard my concerns and worked with our community to come to a solution that will cut millions of tons of carbon emissions, protect jobs in Western Pennsylvania, support our domestic transformer industry, and ensure the United States has the capacity it needs to meet rising demands on the energy grid. I thank my colleagues—including Senators Casey and Fetterman, Congressman Kelly, and others—for their efforts.”
“Strategic updates to energy efficiency standards for critical grid components like distribution transformers will help deliver economic opportunities for new and existing workforces that are and will continue to power our clean energy economy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Today’s actions reflect DOE’s deep commitment to engaging with our partners in labor, advocates, and industry, local, and state leaders to develop forward-looking solutions that align with President Biden’s industrial policy goals, including creating good-paying American jobs, protecting and expanding domestic manufacturing, and helping workers across the country capture the economic benefits of our clean energy future.”
Previous proposals of the department’s rule would have required about a 90% market shift to amorphous alloy steel for transformer production, with the only current production facility at a non-union plant in South Carolina. The final version allows 85% of the market to achieve update with GOES, and is responsive to concerns from Representative Deluzio and others about compliance and investment burden, as well as a victory for union jobs in Western Pennsylvania. It will also require less workforce reskilling, avoid transformer redesign, and give manufacturers flexibility and time to conduct this transition as they prepareand develop new manufacturing lines to increase total distribution transformer manufacturing capacity. The previously proposed rule threatened the market for GOES altogether and risked the closure of the Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works Steel Plant, which supports 1,300 jobs in Western Pennsylvania.
In response to these concerns brought to him by members of the local UAW chapter that work at the Butler plant, Rep. Deluzio jumped into action. Over the last few months, he has advocated for adjustments to the rule and a proposed legislative alternative to better protect Western Pennsylvania’s economy and workers while still achieving important climate goals and locking in energy savings. By listening to stakeholders across the spectrum, the DOE’s final rule is a piece of the solution, rather than a barrier, to resolve the ongoing distribution transformer shortage while providing more solid American jobs.
Further, these updated standards—which includes a longer compliance timeline of five years—will save American utilities and commercial and industrial entities $824 million per year in electricity costs, and result in more demand for core materials like grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES). Over 30 years, the new standards are expected to save Americans over $14 billion in energy costs, while also reducing nearly 85 million metric tons of dangerous carbon dioxide emissions—equivalent to the combined annual emissions of nearly 11 million homes.
Distribution transformers convert high-voltage electricity from power plants and other sources of generation to levels safe enough to be utilized by homes and businesses. Over 50 million distribution transformers are mounted on utility poles and pads across the nation—operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and remaining in use for many decades. Improvements to their efficiency will reduce wasted energy in the power grid and provide significant energy savings to the nation.
The final standards are expected to be met primarily with GOES, for which the majority will be manufactured in the United States, and a small segment of the market will be met with amorphous alloy—both of which are expected to be manufactured in the United States. These standards are expected to protect existing domestic supply of core materials used in distribution transformers, increasing resiliency in the distribution transformer supply chain as a whole, while preserving steel union manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The GOES production at these same locations will also benefit from DOE’s recent $75 million grant for slashing carbon emissions from domestic reheating processes, which are expected to make U.S. domestic GOES amongst the lowest emission GOES in the world and support union jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
More information from the Department of Energy is available on their website.
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