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Officials: SunCoke can help fuel Ohio’s recovery

$340 million project will make jobs, entice AK Steel to stay in Ohio and create a new energy source.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 9:17 PM Saturday, July 4, 2009

Butler County is host to one of the largest investments coming to Ohio, a project state and local officials are eager to make sure gets off the ground.

SunCoke and clean energy

The SunCoke Energy project will invest $340 million in a new coke oven facility to supply the vital raw material to AK Steel’s Middletown Works. In addition, the facility will use technology to work as a heat recovery electric co-generation plant. The plant would be capable of producing 614,000 tons of coke annually, as well as 360 pounds per hour of steam that can be converted into 50 megawatts of electricity — the equivalent of powering 40,000 homes, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

There has been a big push by state legislators to make Ohio an innovator in the commercialization and development of products related to alternative energy sources. Its multifaceted plan includes bolstering its renewable energy sector and upping the state’s renewable energy use.

So the fact that SunCoke will employ clean technology — steam — is an added bonus, said Amanda Wurst, spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Strickland’s office.

“(SunCoke) will be a $340 million investment that will not only create jobs and retain jobs with its connection to AK Steel, it will also produce 50 megawatts of electricity,” she said. “That’s a unique aspect of this project and falls in line with the desire to strengthen Ohio’s energy infrastructure.”

Keeping AK around

While the project will be built in Middletown, city Economic Development Director Mike Robinette said the success of the facility has much broader implications.

With about 2,000 employees from across the region working for AK Steel’s Middletown Works, the project would help ensure the company stays in Middletown for years, he said. The company has agreed to a 20-year contract with SunCoke to purchase the coke and electricity the plant will produce. It also has invested more than $9 million into the project.

“You don’t partner with someone with that kind of investment if you don’t plan to be around for awhile,” Robinette said.

And in today’s competitive global economy, companies like AK Steel need every advantage they can get, said U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp.

“As the federal government forces companies like AK Steel to compete with global businesses that do not have to comply with punitive government regulations like the national energy tax Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi just forced through the U.S. House, we should do everything we can to give American companies every advantage for success and working men and women an opportunity for well-paying jobs,” he said.

Thomas Golembeski, spokesman for SunCoke, stressed the company’s commitment to safe, healthy operations and the project’s capacity to create jobs.

“During construction, the project would create hundreds of temporary construction jobs. Once completed, the facility would create about 70 to 100 permanent operating and maintenance positions,” he said.

“I can’t speak for AK Steel, but the coke made at our facility would make AK Steel’s Middletown Works more competitive in the long term by providing a reliable supply of high-quality and lower-cost coke.”

Helping Ohio recover

SunCoke remains the largest investment within the county, the next closest being GE Aviation’s facility in West Chester Twp., a project worth $55 million, according to Mike Juengling, economic development director for the county.

While the tax revenues will be valuable to the county, Wurst said SunCoke also is important to the state’s recovery.

“It’s an investment of $340 million that will not only create jobs, but will also retain jobs,” she said. “Any project that is coming to our state as (it) continues to face economic problems as a result of the national recession will ensure Ohio recovers from this recession and is on the path of continued economic growth.”

Top 10 Butler County projects for 2008

SunCoke Energy: $340 million

GE Aviation: $55 million

Trenton Teachable Times Daycare: $53.577 million

Wausau Paper: $31 million

Smart Papers: $30 million

Cox Ohio Publishing: $12 million

Takumi Stamping: $12 million

West Chester Library: $12 million

Ohio Casualty Group: $10 million

BAE Systems: $9 million

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