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Wheelabrator Ridge Energy

Brownfield

Auburndale, Polk, Florida · Wheelabrator Environmental Systems

Legacy capacity
46
MW

Wheelabrator Ridge Energy is a former biomass site in Auburndale, Polk, Florida, retired 2019-01-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 46 MW of generation, so the grid hookup, transmission rights, and often cooling-water access are already in place — collapsing the speed-to-power timeline versus a greenfield build.

Former use & capacity

Former useformer biomass site
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity46 MW
Retirement date2019-01-01
EIA plant ID#54529

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.0 mi
Operator address3131 K-Ville Avenue, Auburndale, FL, 33823
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a former biomass site of this scale leaves behind a high-capacity grid interconnection that a new load can re-use, frequently shaving years off the interconnection queue. Retired-plant sites also tend to be already zoned for heavy industrial use with established road, rail, and water infrastructure.

Site conditions & market — Polk County

County-level intelligence for this site's location — the power economics, water, hazard, connectivity, and workforce a developer screens before ever visiting. Assembled from FEMA NRI, BLS QCEW, FCC BDC, USGS water-use, and EIA.

Market & workforce

Total employment (laborshed)230,379
IT / tech employment88
Construction employment14,951
Land value$7,140/acre
Datacenter tax incentivesales_tax_exemption

Power economics & interconnection

Commercial power rate11.13¢/kWh
Industrial power rate9.75¢/kWh
Load growth (FERC-714)1.8%

Water & cooling

Water stressLow-Medium
Public water supply67.5 MGD
Industrial water use29.5 MGD
Cooling degree days3,500
Mean annual temp72°F

Hazard, flood & connectivity

FEMA risk index55.0 · Very High
Fiber providers12 · 60% served

County-level context — address-level utility offerings and flood zoning vary within the county. Confirm site-specific service with the utility and a Phase I ESA.

Nearby brownfield & retired-generation sites

A proximity screen of other retired-plant, contaminated, and EPA-flagged sites near Wheelabrator Ridge Energy — the environmental neighborhood, ranked by legacy grid capacity.

SiteFormer useLegacy MWDistanceCleanup status
Polknatural gas plant1,85922.4 mi—
Hines Energy Complexnatural gas plant1,03416.6 mi—
C D McIntosh Jrcoal plant8815.9 mi—
Midulla Generating Stationoil plant55527.6 mi—
Central Energy Plantnatural gas plant7032.0 mi—
Larsen Memorialnatural gas plant254.9 mi—
Cutrale Citrus Juices USA IInatural gas plant173.6 mi—

Derived from GridCensus's retired-generator & EPA brownfield dataset. Not a substitute for an ASTM E1527 Phase I environmental radius report.

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Nearby datacenter candidate sites

Scored candidate sites near Wheelabrator Ridge Energy, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Wheelabrator Ridge Energy
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
KATHLEENSubstation-AdjacentFLPolk County500 kV1,000 MW1.0 yrs70.5
UNKNOWN120314Substation-AdjacentFLPolk County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs69.4
UNKNOWN108701Substation-AdjacentFLPolk County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs68.4
UNKNOWN120320Substation-AdjacentFLPolk County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs68.3
RISER143336Substation-AdjacentFLOrange County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs68.2
SOUTH ELOISESubstation-AdjacentFLPolk County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs68.1
OZ PolkGreenfieldFLPolk——3.6 yrs67.9
UNKNOWN127935Substation-AdjacentFLHillsborough County230 kV300 MW1.0 yrs67.3

Nearby internet exchanges

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Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Brownfield attributes are derived from EIA retired-generator and EPA public data. Existing capacity reflects the retired plant's historical nameplate, not deliverable interconnection for a new load. Confirm reusable interconnection rights, remediation status, and site availability with the utility, ISO, and current owner.

Go deeper than the public screen

This page shows a public slice of the GridCensus dataset for Wheelabrator Ridge Energy, Auburndale, Polk, Florida. Pro and Enterprise plans unlock the full 147,272-site catalog, raw sub-scores, parcel ownership, interconnection-queue detail, saved searches, and programmatic API access.