DOE awards $500 million to Cleveland-Cliffs for steelmaking upgrade
The award funds a $1 billion upgrade at Cleveland-Cliffs' Middletown Works, protecting 2,300 jobs as construction begins in the coming weeks.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $500 million award to support a $1 billion investment at Cleveland-Cliffs' Middletown Works facility in Middletown, Ohio. Vice President JD Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited the site to highlight the administration's commitment to American steelworkers.
The funding will modernize critical steelmaking operations by rebuilding and upgrading the plant's main coal-fired ironmaking furnace, deploying artificial-intelligence tools to optimize furnace performance and improve energy efficiency, and constructing an on-site facility to convert blast-furnace gas into electricity. Follow-on investments will turn industrial byproducts into materials for concrete used in regional infrastructure.
Cleveland-Cliffs says the upgrade will protect 2,300 American jobs and sustain a domestic supply chain for automotive, heating and cooling, appliance and steel-distribution industries. Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said the investment reduces reliance on foreign products and strengthens national security.
Construction on the Middletown Works project is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
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