Today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $75 million to fund an industrial transformation project at Cleveland Cliffs’ Butler Works steel facility. The funding is provided by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations’ Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP).

The Butler Works facility is represented by the United Auto Workers Local 3303. This project will reduce emissions and energy consumption, as well as enhance steel quality by replacing two natural gas-fired reheat furnaces with electrical induction reheat furnaces. This innovative technology could later be replicated in other steel facilities.

The IDP—made possible by initiatives championed by President Biden and Democrats in Congress and passed into law—seeks to help companies drive down emissions and reduce toxics and other pollutants in the U.S. industrial sector to make them more competitive—all while creating and sustaining good-paying, union manufacturing jobs. The award recipients were required to meet a robust set of criteria to ensure local communities and workers benefit from the proposed projects.

After the award announcement, the BlueGreen Alliance issued the following statement from Appalachian Regional Field Organizer Dan Taylor:

“Building the cleanest products possible and a strong domestic supply chain to manufacture the nuts and bolts of a new, clean economy in the United States is vital to the future of workers right here in Pennsylvania and across the nation. We have a rich tradition of innovation in our country and President Biden has set the stage for the revival that workers and communities have needed for decades. With the investments announced today, we see that Pennsylvania has a vital role to play in the industrial revolution of the 21st century.

“The IDP is proof that President Biden and Democrats are invested in rebuilding U.S. manufacturing to be the backbone of our economy, helping Pennsylvania’s workers get to and stay in the middle class with good union jobs and bringing equity and opportunities to communities that have been on the hurting end of the loss of manufacturing jobs.”