Nucor Steel Florida (Frostproof)
Large load · 22 NUCOR DR, Frostproof, FL
Nucor Steel Florida is a rebar micro mill on a 400-acre site in Frostproof, Polk County, Nucor's second micro mill and the first steel mill of its kind in Florida. It melts scrap in an electric arc furnace and casts and rolls about 350,000 tons of rebar a year. Duke Energy Florida built a new transmission line and substation to serve it and supplies the mill at transmission voltage under Commission-approved rate schedules. It started production in December 2020. No megawatt figure for the mill has been published; Nucor appears at the Florida PSC as one of Duke's large industrial customers.
Overview
- Requested connection
- 45 MW
- operating · May 14, 2018
Duke Energy Florida scouted sites with Nucor and, once the Frostproof site was chosen, designed and built a new transmission line and substation for the mill. The line runs about seven miles, crossing downtown Frostproof, railroads and other power lines; Duke strung a 2.5-mile section by helicopter in a day and finished the line in March 2020, three months ahead of the requirement. Duke's Florida economic development lead called power the key driver of the project, which came with a significant power requirement.
Profile
- Large-load regulation
- Nucor takes service from Duke Energy Florida under Commission-approved rate schedules and has intervened in Duke's 2024 rate case and in both rounds of its large-load tariff case. In the 2026 docket Duke proposed that customers forecasting at least 50,000 kW of firm peak demand sign a Large Load Customer Agreement; Nucor intervened because the terms would affect its rates and conditions of service.
- The mill
- The roughly $249 million micro mill melts scrap and casts directly into rebar for Florida's construction market. It began production and commissioning in December 2020 and, by Nucor's account, was profitable by March 2021. The project brought about 235 jobs.
Facility
- Activity
- Scrap-fed EAF rebar micro mill (about 350,000 tons of rebar a year)
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Grid connections
- Utility
- Duke Energy Florida (transmission-level service)Reported
- Nearest substations
- Avon Park230 kV8.6 km
- Point of interconnection
- Not identified
- Interconnection request
- Not identified
Related records
Timeline
- Mar 1, 2020
- Duke Energy Florida finishes the seven-mile transmission line to the mill
New steel plant in Florida is built with innovation | Duke Energy | illumination
- Dec 1, 2020
- Mill starts production and commissioning
Taking The Lead - Site Selection Magazine
- Jul 14, 2026
- Nucor intervenes in Duke Energy Florida's revised large-load tariff case
www.psc.state.fl.us