What a whirlwind the last few days have been in San Diego at DTECH 2026! From the bustling exhibitor floor to deep-dive technical sessions, the energy this year was palpable. As always, this jam-packed show was a lot to take in. For the utility, data center, and power gen sectors, the conversation is no longer just about what we’re building, but how to secure the materials to bring designs to life.
Whether you were with us on the event floor or following along from the office, here are three key trends we saw at DTECH that every metal buyer needs to know.
1. The Material-First Approach to Data Centers
In the past, material procurement was often the final step in the data center build cycle. You designed the facility, finalized the electrical layout, and then went to market for the and then went to market for the switchgear and transformers.
The reality is that this model won’t work in 2026. With eye-watering lead times for refined copper (amid a significant projected deficit, no less), data center developers need to adopt a material-first approach. That means locking in your metal allocations during the initial design phase, often 18 to 24 months before a shovel hits the ground.
To compete for a piece of the pie, smart buyers are moving toward long-term blanket agreements with metals partners to ensure that when the switchgear is ready to be built, the copper is already on the shop floor.
2. A Shift to 1350 Aluminum in Distribution
With copper prices forecasted to remain volatile in 2026, it’s no surprise that interest in high-purity 1350 aluminum for transformers is surging on the DTECH floor. This high-quality aluminum alloy offers a minimum purity of 99.5%, which is essential for grid modernization.
1350 brings all the lightweight benefits of aluminum without sacrificing reliability—but only from suppliers who can provide full traceability and Mill Test Reports.
3. The Question of the Year: “Is It Domestic?”
If we had a dollar for every time someone asked us this week if our metals are domestic, we could probably stop distributing them. And for good reason; for projects to be financially viable right now, you must be able to prove 55% of their components are manufactured in the United States.
For DTECH attendees focused on the backbone of the grid—the switchgear, transformers, and substations—securing onshore materials has even bigger implications than project cost alone.
In the last few years, grid upgrade projects have been caught in a perfect storm of delays. An estimated 60% of distribution lines are currently beyond their 50-year capacity. Enter the AI surge, ballooning the demand for high-performance transformers. And with a globalized just-in-time supply chain no longer living up to its name, it’s no wonder grid upgrade projects fell so far behind.
The move to domestic material sourcing has the potential to get these essential grid updates moving again. For buyers, this shift underlines the importance of partnering with metals suppliers who maintain domestic inventory and processing services like precision slitting.
DTECH Recap
DTECH 2026 showed us that the industry is tired of waiting. We’re moving past the reactive planning phase into a period where the supply chain itself is treated as a critical piece of infrastructure.
The most successful teams we talked to are the ones moving away from transactional buying and toward deeper, more strategic partnerships. Whether you’re building an AI-ready data center or replacing 50-year-old distribution lines, the goal is the same: shrinking the gap between a design and an energized line. It’s about having the right metal in the right grade already on the floor when the project gets the green light.
