KARTCHNER
Substation-AdjacentSanta Cruz County, Arizona · WECC
At a glance
KARTCHNER is a substation-adjacent datacenter candidate site in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, scoring 50.5/100 DC Readiness — 35th of 72 scored sites in the county. Its nearest substation is KARTCHNER (0 mi, 115 kV). It sits in the WECC grid region and the SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY E C INC service territory, where interconnection has averaged 3.5 years from request to operation. GridCensus catalogs 100 MW of candidate capacity here.
Power & interconnection
Speed to power
Deep queue and long historical waits — plan for a multi-year interconnection timeline and engage the utility early.
Connectivity
Site characteristics
Risk & environment
Location context
Regulatory climate
Sales-tax exemption suspended Jul 2026–Jun 2029; water constraints add scrutiny.
Incentive detail: Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) for qualified facilities on government land.
Site location
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How does KARTCHNER compare with other sites in Santa Cruz County?
KARTCHNER ranks 35th of 72 scored candidate sites in Santa Cruz County. Its 50.5/100 is roughly in line with the county average of 51.6. It is roughly in line with the Arizona average of 48.5 and roughly in line with the national average of 53.2.
Against the Arizona average, its strongest sub-score is power availability (56 vs 34) and its weakest is fiber connectivity (45 vs 66). Power and speed to power each carry 20% of the composite score, fiber 12%, water 7% and hazard 6%.
How close is KARTCHNER to power, fiber and other datacenters?
The nearest mapped substation, KARTCHNER, is about 0 miles away and operates at 115 kV. For connectivity, the nearest internet exchange facility is MDC Nogales at 40.7 miles. 4 fiber providers report service at the location in FCC broadband data. The closest operating datacenter on record is DirecTV DC, 28.1 miles away.
What are the flood, water and hazard risks at KARTCHNER?
At the county level, FEMA's National Risk Index rates Santa Cruz County "Relatively Low".
Full DC Readiness breakdown
All 13 weighted sub-scores (0–100) behind the composite DC Readiness score.
Nearby comparable sites
Other scored datacenter candidate sites in Santa Cruz County, ranked by DC Readiness.
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRVINGTON | Substation-Adjacent | 230 kV | 300 MW | 3.5 yrs | 61.7 |
| VAIL | Substation-Adjacent | 345 kV | 600 MW | 3.5 yrs | 61.0 |
| SOUTH | Substation-Adjacent | 345 kV | 600 MW | 3.5 yrs | 60.2 |
| BICKNELL | Substation-Adjacent | 345 kV | 600 MW | 3.5 yrs | 58.7 |
| SAHUARITA | Substation-Adjacent | 230 kV | 300 MW | 3.5 yrs | 58.0 |
| OZ Santa Cruz | Greenfield | — | — | 3.5 yrs | 57.8 |
| UNKNOWN301866 | Substation-Adjacent | 230 kV | 300 MW | 3.5 yrs | 57.4 |
| PANTANO | Substation-Adjacent | 230 kV | 300 MW | 3.5 yrs | 56.8 |
KARTCHNER: common questions
What is the DC Readiness score of KARTCHNER?
KARTCHNER scores 50.5/100 on the GridCensus DC Readiness scale, rated fair. It ranks 35th of 72 scored sites in Santa Cruz County. The Santa Cruz County average is 51.6 and the Arizona average is 48.5.
What is the nearest substation to KARTCHNER?
The nearest mapped substation is KARTCHNER, about 0 miles away, at 115 kV. GridCensus catalogs 100 MW of candidate capacity for the site.
Which electric utility serves KARTCHNER?
SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY E C INC (cooperative) holds the retail service territory that contains the site; its holding company is SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE.
What grid region is KARTCHNER in?
KARTCHNER is in the WECC region. Projects interconnecting there have averaged a 3.5-year wait from queue request to operation.
How far is KARTCHNER from an internet exchange?
The nearest internet exchange facility is MDC Nogales, about 40.7 miles away; 4 fiber providers report service at the location.
Related pages
About this data
Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published October 10, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “KARTCHNER, Santa Cruz County, AZ”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/arizona/santa-cruz-county/kartchner-a4005b6a (data as of October 10, 2026).
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
Figures are screening estimates derived from public infrastructure data. Catalogued capacity reflects theoretical candidate capacity, not deliverable or committed interconnection. Confirm all values with the utility, ISO, and on-the-ground due diligence.
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Every site and score for KARTCHNER, Santa Cruz County is free to browse. Pro adds Watchtower on 25 sites, alerts when new candidate sites, datacenters or interconnection-queue requests appear in your markets, score and capacity history, and CSV export. Enterprise adds team seats, weekly data files for all 147,272 sites, the REST API and an MCP server for AI tools.