Weirton is getting some good news from an existing manufacturer.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced today that it will establish a new electrical distribution transformer production plant in Weirton, giving new life to a site location that had been idled.
An announcement from Cleveland-Cliffs indicated the downstream direct investment in Weirton will address the critical shortage of distribution transformers that is stifling economic growth across the United States.
“Today’s announcement is incredible news for Cleveland-Cliffs, the United Steelworkers, the people of Weirton, and all of West Virginia,” Senator Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., stated in a news release.
“Distribution transformers are absolutely critical components of our nation’s power grid and this project is a great opportunity to position our state as a global leader in their production while reemploying hardworking West Virginians who lost their jobs earlier this year. I’m grateful to everyone who worked tirelessly to find a solution for this site and I am excited to see West Virginia continue to play an essential role in our energy and manufacturing industries.”
West Virginia’s Economic Development Authority is scheduled for a special 11 a.m. meeting today to authorize up to $50 million to support a project in Hancock County.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chief, will host a press conference with West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and other elected officials in Weirton today. Justice, in a briefing last week, described an upcoming economic development announcement.
“The former Weirton site offers significant growth opportunity, with the needed infrastructure in place and a world class highly-trained workforce ready to be deployed. Very importantly, Weirton is located in West Virginia, a state where the legislative and the executive branches prove every day that things can happen really fast and efficiently,” Goncalves said today in a release about the announcement.
Justice made reference last week to a significant announcement.
“OK, we’ve got a great big economic development announcement on Monday. You know, I hope you’ll absolutely stay tuned to everything that’s going on there,” Justice said, alluding to his role in chairing the upcoming meeting of the state Economic Development Authority.
“Big day on Monday. Stay tuned, and more good news coming to West Virginia.”
The economic incentive package is associated with conditions the state calls a “High Impact Development Project.” State code specifies that means the governor has requested, in writing, that the project be approved by the authority for $50 million or more, that the enterprise undertaking the project will privately invest $50 million or more and that the project meets or exceeds a state loan-per-job ratio.
The announcement in Weirton will highlight Cleveland-Cliffs’ investment to repurpose its Half Moon Warehouse in Weirton to commence production of three-phase distribution transformers used in electric power distribution systems. Cliffs expects the new plant to come online in the first half of 2026.
The efficiency standards for distribution transformers recently put out by the U.S. Department of Energy support the long-term use of highly-efficient American-made Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES), providing a greater chance for the investment in Weirton to thrive.
The total capital investment is $150 million, with one-third granted by the state of West Virginia to Cliffs through a forgivable loan.
Weirton has a historic reputation as a steel town, but that sector has fallen on hard times. Weirton Steel Corp. was, at one time, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of tin plate products. The steel company declared bankruptcy and then went through several changes of ownership and consolidations. By 2020, the plant was part of the Cleveland-Cliffs organization — but Cleveland Cliffs announced this past February that it would shut down the plant over international trade conditions.
A job fair this past spring for Cleveland-Cliffs’ 900 workers included opportunities with manufacturers like Form Energy, the cutting edge battery factory setting up in Weirton, and Nucor Steel.
Now, the new investment will result in reemployment opportunities for 600 United Steel Workers-represented workers from the indefinitely idled Weirton tinplate mill.
“This investment by Cleveland-Cliffs will provide employment opportunity for the hard working, skilled Steelworkers of USW Local 2911. The new plant builds on Weirton’s proud legacy of steelmaking, and will establish our region as a hub for manufacturing of transformers needed to support the economic and national security of the United States,” said United Steelworkers Local 2911 President, Mark Glyptis.
I thank Lourenco Goncalves for remaining dedicated to this community and Governor Justice for the strong support by the State of West Virginia. Finally, I reaffirm the commitment of USW Local 2911 to the success and future growth of transformer production in Weirton.”
The new electrical transformer plant will also generate additional demand for American-made , exclusively produced in the United States by Cleveland-Cliffs, at its Butler Works steel mill in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In addition to Cliffs’ GOES, the new transformer plant in West Virginia will also consume stainless and carbon steel produced by Cliffs in several other of its steel plants in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
“Distribution transformers are critical to the maintenance and expansion of America’s electric grid. These transformers are in short supply, and that shortage stifles economic growth across the country. The shortage will continue to be exacerbated by the widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence in virtually all sectors of the economy, which will exponentially increase the consumption of electricity, in the United States and worldwide,” said Goncalves, chairman and president of Cleveland-Cliffs.
“Said another way, there will be no AI without electricity, and there will be no electricity without transformers. Our vision for Weirton is to develop a first-of-a-kind center of excellence for transformer manufacturing that will provide good paying, middle class jobs to skilled workers, and will service our country’s electrical infrastructure needs.”
This past April, Cleveland-Cliffs officials hinted that the idled tin mill could be converted into a plant that would produce steel for electric grid transformers.
Goncalves, during a discussion about first quarter earnings with the Pittsburgh Business Times around that time, acknowledged the company had been in discussions to convert the Weirton plant.
Glyptis followed up by telling MetroNews at the time that the discussions had been taking place for several weeks. Glyptis described optimism while acknowledging, at the time, that there was no done deal.
“These (transformers) are desperately needed. The country can only make about half of what the country’s needs are,” Glyptis said this spring. “There are ongoing discussions. It’s pretty exciting.”