I was delighted to meet with employees and representatives of the U.S. steel industry at the Steel Ventures facility in Greenup County this month.
Steel Ventures, which employs 200 people in Wurtland, Kentucky, specializes in zinc plating steel parts that are made domestically from metal recycled by Steel Dynamics Steel of West Virginia in nearby Huntington, West Virginia. The durable galvanized coating they apply prevents steel from rusting for several decades.
We began the meeting by discussing how I could use my position in Congress to help foster successful businesses like theirs in Greenup County. As a representative of not just the people, but also the industries that employ them and create the materials and resources we use in our day-to-day lives, it is important for me to hear first-hand what their needs and concerns are. Supporting American manufacturing and American-made products should be a priority of those who work at all levels of government.
I reminded those in attendance that I serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Issues relevant to the steel industry, such as the transportation of goods by truck, barge, or train, often come before this committee. I also talked about my work on the Judiciary Committee and our jurisdiction over patents, trademarks, and copyrights, which bolster the global competitiveness of U.S. industries, and encourage investment.
Some of the parts they make in Wurtland are used for supports beneath tractor-trailer beds, but eighty percent of the pieces they produce are used to mount solar panels in industrial solar farms. Transforming recycled steel into solar panel mounts in “Greenup” County sounds pretty green!
For solar energy to more effectively supplant other sources of energy, it will be necessary to find ways to store it. Attendees of the meeting were interested in my off-the-grid home, which is powered by a salvaged Tesla battery and solar panels that I installed. For grid-scale energy storage, I talked about the potential for pumped-storage hydro, which is used in some other parts of the country but not yet in Kentucky. This form of energy storage involves two reservoirs of water at different elevations. When extra energy is available, such as from solar panels during a sunny day, water is pumped to the upper reservoir. When more energy is needed for the grid than the panels can provide, water flows from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir through a turbine that generates electricity. I think hilltops near the Ohio River, which flows through my congressional district, would make great locations for storing energy in this manner.
I also expressed my belief that, from a purely economic standpoint, it makes more sense to have centrally managed and maintained solar panels, rather than expecting each homeowner to install them. Though the cost of solar panels has fallen drastically, the equipment needed to run an off-the-grid home can still be rather pricey, while constructing and maintaining the set-up is truly a labor of love. However, my research leads me to believe that solar is far more practical than wind. Wind power requires more maintenance, isn’t as accessible, and is more costly overall.
Our discussion and tour of the factory was attended by Jason Rulen, Trevor Nole, and Kelli Erwin of Steel Ventures, Inc.; John O’Connor, David Harold, Scott Boggs, Josh Ward, and Tina Jeffers of Steel Dynamics Steel of West Virginia; Jeff Hansen of Steel Dynamics; Tim Gibbs of Ashland Alliance; Christie Coleman of The Ironton Tribune; and Greenup County Property Valuation Administrator Bobby Hall.
Besides speaking, I listened to the informative talks given by other attendees. I learned much about the production of steel, the jobs the industry has created, and what steel manufacturers are aiming to achieve in the future. Thank you to all who participated, and a special thank you to the steel manufacturers who contribute to the economy of Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District by providing good paying jobs to my constituents.