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Gridcensus

Steam plant

Brownfield

Tacoma, Pierce, Washington · City of Tacoma - (WA)

Legacy capacity
50
MW

Steam plant is a former biomass site in Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, retired 2005-12-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 50 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 biomass site
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity50 MW
Retirement date2005-12-01
EIA plant ID#3920

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.2 mi
Operator address1171 Taylor Way, Tacoma, WA, 98421
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a former biomass 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.

Site conditions & market — Pierce 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)272,091
IT / tech employment187
Construction employment24,505
Land value$28,343/acre
Datacenter tax incentivesales_tax_exemption

Power economics & interconnection

Commercial power rate8.64¢/kWh
Industrial power rate6.91¢/kWh
Load growth (FERC-714)1.1%

Water & cooling

Water stressLow-Medium
Public water supply110.4 MGD
Industrial water use12.2 MGD
Cooling degree days300
Mean annual temp48°F

Hazard, flood & connectivity

FEMA risk index28.0 · Relatively Moderate
Fiber providers10 · 21% 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 Steam plant — the environmental neighborhood, ranked by legacy grid capacity.

SiteFormer useLegacy MWDistanceCleanup status
White River (WA)former hydro site7011.6 mi—
University of Washington Power Plantnatural gas plant526.4 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 Steam plant, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Steam plant
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
MAPLE VALLEYSubstation-AdjacentWAKing County500 kV1,000 MW6.9 yrs69.7
COVINGTONSubstation-AdjacentWAKing County500 kV1,000 MW6.9 yrs69.4
OZ KingGreenfieldWAKing——1.7 yrs67.0
OBRIENSubstation-AdjacentWAKing County230 kV300 MW6.9 yrs66.5
OZ KingGreenfieldWAKing——1.7 yrs66.5
CRESTON NELSONSubstation-AdjacentWAKitsap County230 kV300 MW6.9 yrs65.3
DUWAMISHSubstation-AdjacentWAKitsap County230 kV300 MW6.9 yrs65.3
MASSACHUSETTS STREETSubstation-AdjacentWAKitsap County230 kV300 MW6.9 yrs65.3

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 Steam plant, Tacoma, Pierce, Washington. 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.