Cheoah

Brownfield

Tapoco, Graham, North Carolina · Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower LP

Legacy capacity
80
MW

Cheoah is a former hydro site in Tapoco, Graham, North Carolina, retired 2012-10-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 80 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 useformer hydro site
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity80 MW
Retirement date2012-10-01
EIA plant ID#54899

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.0 mi
OperatorBrookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower LP
Operator addressHwy 129, Tapoco, NC, 28771
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a former hydro site 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 Cheoah, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Cheoah
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
FORT LOUDON DAMSubstation-AdjacentTNLoudon County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs72.7
Greenfield (VOLUNTEER - WATTS BAR POWER ST)GreenfieldTNLoudon County500 kV1,000 MW3.7 yrs71.4
UNKNOWN115786Substation-AdjacentTNLoudon County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs71.0
UNKNOWN116380Substation-AdjacentTNBlount County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs71.0
TAP155212Substation-AdjacentTNBlount County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs70.8
EATONSubstation-AdjacentTNLoudon County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs70.4
TAP152043Substation-AdjacentTNLoudon County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs70.1
BLOUNTSubstation-AdjacentTNBlount County161 kV100 MW3.7 yrs69.6

Nearby internet exchanges

See all datacenter sites in North Carolina

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 Cheoah, Tapoco, Graham, North Carolina. 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.