CMC Steel Alabama
Large load · 101 50TH ST S, Birmingham, AL
CMC Steel Alabama is Commercial Metals Company's electric arc furnace mini-mill in Birmingham, run by CMC since 1983. It melts scrap into billets, reheats them and rolls merchant bar. Alabama Power serves the mill, and from 2026 a virtual power purchase agreement with the utility covers about 13% of its electricity from renewable sources. CMC has proposed replacing the mill's 86-ton DC arc furnace with a 100-ton unit. No contracted or metered MW figure for the mill has been published.
Overview
The Birmingham mill is one of CMC's six EAF mini-mills. It melts scrap into steel billets, which are reheated and rolled into flats, angles, channels, rounds and squares for construction, manufacturing and transportation customers.
Profile
- Renewable VPPA with Alabama Power
- CMC worked with Alabama Power on a virtual power purchase agreement for the Birmingham mill tied to a local solar farm. CMC's sustainability pages describe it covering 12% to 13% of the mill's annual electricity, starting in 2025 or 2026 depending on the page. It is one of several CMC mill VPPAs, alongside one at Seguin, Texas.
- Arc furnace replacement
- Industrial Info reported in March 2025 that CMC proposed a new electric arc furnace at the Birmingham mill. A 100-ton unit would replace an obsolete 86-ton direct-current furnace, which would be demolished. Furnace tonnage is not a site MW figure, but a larger furnace generally means a larger melt-shop load on Alabama Power's system.
Facility
- Activity
- Electric arc furnace mini-mill melting scrap into billets rolled into merchant bar (flats, angles, channels, rounds, squares)
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Permits and agreements
- Agreement
- Virtual power purchase agreement with Alabama Power from 2026 sourcing about 13% of the mill's electricity from renewable sources
Grid connections
- Utility
- Alabama PowerReported
- Nearest substations
- Unnamed substation115 kV150 m
- Unnamed substation230 kV1.5 km
- Point of interconnection
- Not identified
- Interconnection request
Related records
Timeline
- Mar 21, 2025
- Industrial Info reports CMC's proposed 100-ton EAF to replace the 86-ton DC furnace
CMC Braves Rough Steel Prices, Expects Strong Rebound in 2025