MPEA Energy Center

Brownfield

Chicago, Cook, Illinois · Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Auth

Legacy capacity
3
MW

MPEA Energy Center is a natural gas plant in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, retired 2016-01-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 3 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 usenatural gas plant
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity3 MW
Retirement date2016-01-01
EIA plant ID#55067

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation4.5 mi
OperatorMetropolitan Pier and Exposition Auth
Operator address2211 S. Martin Luther King Jr, Chicago, IL, 60616
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a natural gas plant 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.

Nearby datacenter candidate sites

Scored candidate sites near MPEA Energy Center, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near MPEA Energy Center
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
UNKNOWN124436Substation-AdjacentILCook County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs78.0
SHEFFIELDSubstation-AdjacentINLake County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.9
UNKNOWN122269Substation-AdjacentILCook County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.8
TAP160103Substation-AdjacentILCook County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.6
ITASCASubstation-AdjacentILDuPage County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.4
ELMHURSTSubstation-AdjacentILDuPage County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.2
UNKNOWN122289Substation-AdjacentILDuPage County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.1
UNKNOWN122244Substation-AdjacentILDuPage County345 kV600 MW2.2 yrs76.0

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 MPEA Energy Center, Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Pro and Enterprise plans unlock the full 164,098-site catalog, raw sub-scores, parcel ownership, interconnection-queue detail, saved searches, and programmatic API access.

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