The static energy is an excellent observable for extracting the strong coupling 𝛼s on the lattice. For
short distances, the static energy can be calculated both on the lattice using Wilson line correlators,
and with perturbation theory up to three loop accuracy with leading ultrasoft log resummation.
Comparing the perturbative expression and lattice data allows for precise determination of $\alpha_s$. We
present early results for 1-loop lattice perturbation theory improvement of the Wilson loop and
show how it improves the $\alpha_s$ extraction. We present a preliminary reanalysis of the TUMQCD
(2+1)-flavor QCD data.

