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Gridcensus

Rush Island

Brownfield

Festus, Jefferson, Missouri · Union Electric Co - (MO)

Legacy capacity
1,242
MW

Rush Island is a coal plant in Festus, Jefferson, Missouri, retired 2024-10-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 1,242 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 usecoal plant
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity1,242 MW
Retirement date2024-10-01
EIA plant ID#6155

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.2 mi
Operator address100 Big Hollow Road, Festus, MO, 63028
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a coal 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.

Site conditions & market — Jefferson 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)39,961
IT / tech employment24
Construction employment4,322
Land value$5,915/acre
Datacenter tax incentivesales_tax_exemption

Power economics & interconnection

Commercial power rate10.54¢/kWh
Industrial power rate7.73¢/kWh
Load growth (FERC-714)0.7%

Water & cooling

Water stressLow
Public water supply28.7 MGD
Industrial water use0.7 MGD
Cooling degree days1,500
Mean annual temp56°F

Hazard, flood & connectivity

FEMA risk index38.0 · Relatively High
Fiber providers5 · 35% 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 Rush Island — the environmental neighborhood, ranked by legacy grid capacity.

SiteFormer useLegacy MWDistanceCleanup status
Merameccoal plant1,04119.1 mi—
Belleville Landfill Projectformer landfill site1330.5 micleanup_complete
Jefferson Street Substationoil plant626.5 mi—
Walton Street Substationoil plant425.5 mi—
Elm Street Substation Generatorsoil plant225.6 mi—
Red Budoil plant115.5 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 Rush Island, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Rush Island
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
RUSH ISLANDSubstation-AdjacentMOMonroe County345 kV600 MW2.8 yrs65.7
TYSONSubstation-AdjacentMOSt. Louis County345 kV600 MW2.8 yrs65.4
TURKEY HILLSubstation-AdjacentILSt. Clair County345 kV600 MW3.8 yrs64.2
Belleville Landfill ProjectBrownfieldILSt. Clair138 kV13 MW3.8 yrs64.0
OZ St. LouisGreenfieldMOSt. Louis——1.4 yrs64.0
EC Coal St. Louis CountyGreenfieldMOSt. Louis County——1.4 yrs62.8
EC Near MeramecGreenfieldMOSt. Louis——1.4 yrs62.5
EC Coal St. Louis CountyGreenfieldMOSt. Louis County——1.4 yrs62.5

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 Rush Island, Festus, Jefferson, Missouri. 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.