Weirton Steel Corp (fka WRTLQ)

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3/8/09 News--Weirton Steel Plant Recognized for Energy-Saving Efforts
Posted Sunday, March 8, 2009 ; 06:00 AM | View Comments | Post Comment
Updated Sunday, March 8, 2009 ; 11:15 AM

http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=53732

The U.S. Department of Energy has honored ArcelorMittal for reducing its energy use at its plants, including the steel mill in Weirton.
By Linda Harris

Ohio Valley Correspondent

ArcelorMittal reduced energy consumption at its U.S. holdings in 2008 and over the past three years has shaved millions from its bottom line.

As a result, the company has earned accolades from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.

The two government agencies have recognized the steel giant as a 2009 Energy Star Partner of the Year for its energy management practices. It’s the second consecutive year ArcelorMittal received the award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

ArcelorMittal Corporate Responsibility Manager Mary Beth Holdford said the company reduced its corporate energy footprint by some 4.1 percent over the past three years by cutting natural gas, fuel oil and electricity consumption at its domestic operations.

At its Weirton plant, for instance, total dollars spent for energy in 2008 were down roughly $6 million from the year before. Although the plant has gone through a very public downsizing, Holdford said the energy reduction is more the result of employees taking a common sense approach to how things are being done — things like turning off motors that aren’t being used and fixing leaks.

“We shut down things that were no longer necessary,” said James Taylor, division manager of maintenance, engineering and utilities at the Weirton plant. “Maybe we run part of the operation from Monday through Friday and it’s down on weekends. In the old days, when things were cheaper, they would leave the pumps on, the lights on … everything was already on so it was easier (to get started) when they came in on Monday morning, and they didn’t think much about it. Today, we do. Today we shut those operations down.”

Taylor and Holdford said the plant shaved roughly $13,000 per month from its electric bill by shutting down non-essential utilities in areas of the plant no longer needed for operations. Power boilers used for plant process steam production were examined and tuned to reduce fuel use and improve energy efficiency, bringing a monthly fuel savings of $50,000. The Weirton plant also performed steam trap surveys throughout the mill to identify and repair steam leaks in the piping and replace trap systems, an additional $20,000 per month savings from its natural gas bill.

Taylor said the plant also has been systematically replacing older, less efficient lighting with energy conserving hi-bay fluorescent models — a newer, greener technology.

“Over the past year we replaced lights in three areas of plant,” Taylor said. “We can’t do it all at once; it is expensive. As we come to an area we replace a section, then we move on to the next.”

They also shut down excess transformer capacity, reducing the electrical load significantly.

“We still have enough transformers to do production, but it’s saved us $62,000 a month,” Taylor said, adding the Weirton plant has achieved a 10 percent reduction in the amount of energy burned for every ton of steel shipped.

“That’s tremendous,” he said. “We just need to go out and do things more efficiently. If you look at the dollars, it’s incredible what you can do.”

ArcelorMittal USA President and CEO Michael Rippey pointed out they’re the only steel company to be selected for the award, saying it “further demonstrates ArcelorMittal’s commitment to maintaining operational excellence, while efficiently managing energy resources.”

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