Pittsburgh-based Alcoa is trying to turn its industrial past into an AI-era payday, pitching a package of shuttered and curtailed aluminum plants to data-center developers who crave big power. CEO Bill Oplinger has told investors the company is zeroed in on 10 locations and expects at least one sale in the first half of 2026.
Alcoa’s pitch at the investor conference
Speaking at the BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference, Oplinger said, “We have 10 sites that we're focused on selling into that space,” referring to data-center development, and added the company thinks we'll have the first sale in the first half of this year, as detailed by DataCenterDynamics. According to Investing.com, the full transcript shows Alcoa is targeting roughly $500 million to $1 billion from select asset sales as it weighs which curtailed plants to repurpose for data-center use.
Why data centers want smelter sites
Data centers prize locations with ready access to large blocks of electricity and existing transmission lines, and aluminum smelters often check those boxes, making them logical brownfield candidates for hyperscale campuses. As detailed by DataCenterDynamics, developers are kicking the tires on sites based on megawatts of available power, connectivity, and industrial zoning that can speed permitting and construction.
Hawesville shows the playbook
Alcoa is not inventing this strategy out of thin air. Century Aluminum sold its idled Hawesville, Kentucky, site to a data-center developer, retaining a minority stake while the buyer began repurposing the campus. “The site has approximately 480MW of existing power capacity,” according to DataCenterDynamics, a model Alcoa has said it is studying for its own curtailed assets.
What it could mean for Pittsburgh
Alcoa confirmed its participation in the BMO event in a company release this month, and local station WPXI carried the Reuters summary of management's remarks. The company’s SEC filings list its corporate address as 201 Isabella Street, Suite 500 in downtown Pittsburgh; see SEC filings for the official listing.
What to watch next
As potential projects move from pitch decks to real proposals, expect developers, utilities, and local officials to start drilling into grid capacity, water access, and permitting timelines. Per Investing.com, the company’s timetable suggests a near-term sale could close by mid-2026, giving local planners and energy markets plenty of reason to keep an eye on how Alcoa’s idle sites get reborn.
