JM Steel announces expansion in Pittsburgh area as demand for solar energy increases – CBS News

LEETSDALE, Pa. (KDKA) – A Leetsdale facility that has a long history in making steel is experiencing a rebirth as demand increases for solar energy.

Justina Whipkey is playing a key role in the future of renewable energy taking place right here in Western Pennsylvania at the old Bethlehem Steel Plant, a factory used during World War II, now transformed to produce components like tubes for solar panel systems.

“It makes me feel like I’m part of something so much bigger than myself,” Whipkey said.

Tony Calandra is the CEO of Jennmar Holdings at JM Steel.

“What better story to bring manufacturing back to Pittsburgh, and to help the local steel mills in the area with supplying us steel on an everyday basis,” Calandra said.

JM Steel makes these products for Nextracker, a technology company that supplies trackers that follow the sun and enhance solar energy to plants across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

Founder of Nextracker, Dan Shugar said the demand is only spiking and they, with JM Steel, tripled capacity in the last 18 months.

“What’s happening here in Pittsburgh is we initially launched this facility to JM Steel almost two years ago, because the demand is so strong,” Shugar said. “Solar is not only the fastest growing source of new power, but it’s actually the largest amount of new power being installed both in the United States and the rest of the world.”

JM Steel currently has 72 employees and intends to expand to more than 100, and through it all, they’re hiring locally and buying local, about four to 5,000 tons of steel from local manufacturers.

“Just alone, we’re probably buying $80 to $90 million of steel a year from local suppliers,” Calandra said.

They already have a backlog, that will in turn impact the region for years to come.

“We have a legacy within energy and manufacture but we’re not resting on that legacy,” Chief Growth Officer for Allegheny Conference, Matt Smith, said.

“It feels like, you know, kind of like we’re reaching through time and we’re connecting the past, the present, and the future, you know, taking something that built our country now, to building our future with clean energy,” Whipkey said. 

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