Fezzik Energy Aliquippa (former J&L Steel site) data center, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania

Fezzik Energy, a group that includes land developer Chuck Betters, attorney Jonathan Kamin and Joanna Doven, is trying to bring a data center to a 27.82-acre former J&L Steel parcel in Aliquippa, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in February 2026. In March 2025, Aliquippa City Council was asked to adopt a resolution declaring a data center a permitted use on the parcel; city records do not show whether the council adopted it, and no developer has been named in the city's own notice.

The city's March 2025 notice described "a data center, information processing and computer facility" that "will operate on a 24-7 basis and will generate its own energy for the facility." It proposed to treat the project as a permitted use under the zoning ordinance on the ground that its operations "qualify as a laboratory devoted to research, design, experimentation, and/or processing." A separate Wall Street Journal report in July 2025 described a $2 billion plan to turn the same mill site into "a power plant and data centers" to support artificial intelligence.

Mayor Dwan Walker, who is also Midland's borough manager, said developers should be upfront with residents: "When you come into somebody's house, you wipe your feet, introduce yourself, shake hands." He also said early talks stay private: "In the beginning, you're cloak and dagger." Near the site, coffee shop owner Barb Michna said a data center would help her business, but her customer Jacob Wild disagreed: "The constant humming, the bright light, it's not going to be nice to live next to."

Joanna Doven, of the Pittsburgh-based AI Strike Team and a Fezzik partner, said "former industrial sites abound in Beaver County" and it is up to local communities to decide "if this is an investment that they want." Any data center on the Aliquippa parcel still needs a conditional use hearing and zoning approval from Aliquippa City Council, which has not confirmed a formal proposal or developer for the site.