Franklin Heating Station

Brownfield

Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota · Franklin Heating Station

Legacy capacity
5
MW

Franklin Heating Station is a natural gas plant in Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, retired 2021-02-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 5 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 capacity5 MW
Retirement date2021-02-01
EIA plant ID#54224

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.5 mi
OperatorFranklin Heating Station
Operator address119 3rd Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55902
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 Franklin Heating Station, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Franklin Heating Station
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
BYRONSubstation-AdjacentMNDodge County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs79.7
CROSSTOWN CASCADESubstation-AdjacentMNOlmsted County161 kV100 MW1.4 yrs75.6
PLEASANT VALLEY (MN)Substation-AdjacentMNMower County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs74.2
NORTHERN HILLSSubstation-AdjacentMNOlmsted County161 kV100 MW1.4 yrs73.1
CASCADE CREEKSubstation-AdjacentMNOlmsted County161 kV100 MW1.4 yrs72.9
UNKNOWN129279Substation-AdjacentMNWabasha County161 kV100 MW1.4 yrs72.5
NORTH ROCHESTERSubstation-AdjacentMNOlmsted County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs72.3
Greenfield (PLEASANT VALLEY (MN) - BYRON)GreenfieldMNDodge County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs72.2

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 Franklin Heating Station, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota. 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.