West Fairbault

Brownfield

Faribault, Rice, Minnesota · Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

Legacy capacity
49
MW

West Fairbault is a natural gas plant in Faribault, Rice, Minnesota, retired 2006-12-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 49 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 capacity49 MW
Retirement date2006-12-01
EIA plant ID#1932

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation1.9 mi
OperatorNorthern States Power Co - Minnesota
Operator address17th St. SW, Faribault, MN, 55021
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 West Fairbault, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near West Fairbault
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
HAMPTONSubstation-AdjacentMNDakota County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs75.2
WEST FAIRBAULTSubstation-AdjacentMNRice County115 kV100 MW1.4 yrs72.2
CHUB LAKESubstation-AdjacentMNDakota County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs71.9
FARIBAULT ENERGY PARKSubstation-AdjacentMNRice County115 kV100 MW1.4 yrs71.6
HELENASubstation-AdjacentMNScott County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs71.3
UNKNOWN129439Substation-AdjacentMNDakota County115 kV100 MW1.4 yrs70.4
UNKNOWN129409Substation-AdjacentMNSteele County161 kV100 MW1.4 yrs70.3
Greenfield (CHUB LAKE - HELENA)GreenfieldMNScott County345 kV600 MW1.4 yrs70.2

Nearby internet exchanges

See all datacenter sites in Minnesota

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 West Fairbault, Faribault, Rice, 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.