NCAH Central Utility Plant
BrownfieldAmes, Story, Iowa · National Centers for Animal Health
NCAH Central Utility Plant is a natural gas plant in Ames, Story, Iowa, retired 2018-01-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 1 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
Grid hookup & remediation
Site conditions & market — Story 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
Power economics & interconnection
Water & cooling
Hazard, flood & connectivity
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 NCAH Central Utility Plant — the environmental neighborhood, ranked by legacy grid capacity.
| Site | Former use | Legacy MW | Distance | Cleanup status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State University | natural gas plant | 9 | 3.3 mi | — |
| Ames Diesel Generating Station | oil plant | 2 | 2.3 mi | — |
| Alliant SBD 8603 Donnelley | oil plant | 1 | 7.2 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 NCAH Central Utility Plant, ranked by DC Readiness.
| Site | Type | State | County | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BONDURANT | Substation-Adjacent | IA | Polk County | 345 kV | 600 MW | 2.8 yrs | 68.7 |
| GRIMES | Substation-Adjacent | IA | Dallas County | 345 kV | 600 MW | 2.8 yrs | 67.5 |
| SYCAMORE | Substation-Adjacent | IA | Polk County | 345 kV | 600 MW | 2.8 yrs | 67.4 |
| EC Near Iowa State University | Greenfield | IA | Story | — | — | 1.4 yrs | 66.0 |
| EC Near Iowa State University | Greenfield | IA | Story | — | — | 1.4 yrs | 65.8 |
| EC Near Iowa State University | Greenfield | IA | Story | — | — | 1.4 yrs | 64.8 |
| EC Near Metro Methane Recovery Facility | Greenfield | IA | Polk | — | — | 1.4 yrs | 64.3 |
| EC Near Iowa State University | Greenfield | IA | Story | — | — | 1.4 yrs | 63.6 |
Nearby internet exchanges
- Connect Des MoinesDes Moines, IA · 10 networks
- Cologix DSM1Des Moines, IA · 8 networks
- LightEdge Des Moines 1 (DSM1)Altoona, IA · 6 networks
- LightEdge Des Moines 2 (DSM2)Altoona, IA · 5 networks
See all datacenter sites in Iowa →
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 NCAH Central Utility Plant, Ames, Story, Iowa. 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.