City of Palo Alto

Brownfield

San Mateo County, California · CAISO

DC Readiness
52.1
Fair / 100

City of Palo Alto is a brownfield datacenter candidate site in San Mateo County, California, interconnecting through CAISO. It screens at 52.1/100 DC Readiness with a catalogued 4 MW of candidate capacity and a 5.7 yrs average interconnection-queue wait.

Power & interconnection

Substation distance2.7 mi
Substation voltage115 kV
Available capacity4 MW
LMP zoneCAISO_NP15
Wholesale LMP$16.53/MWh
Utility commercial rate0.29¢/kWh

Speed to power

ISO / RTO regionCAISO
Queue depth311
Avg queue wait5.7 yrs
Recent queue wait3.0 yrs
Completion rate11%
Withdrawal rate89%

Connectivity

Nearest IXPEquinix SV8 - Silicon Valley, Palo Alto
IXP distance2.9 mi
Fiber providers14
Fiber coverage73.5%
Nearest cloud providerAWS
Nearest cloud regionus-west-1
Cloud region distance14.0 mi

Site characteristics

Site typeBrownfield
Parcel ownerCity of Palo Alto
Land owner typeprivate
Buildability95.0/100
Land cover (NLCD)Developed, Medium Intensity
Former usegas
Existing capacity4 MW
Retirement date2024-01-01

Risk & environment

Flood zoneZone AE (SFHA)
Water stress (WRI)3.80
Wetlands (NWI)Clear
Critical habitatClear
Superfund nearbyPresent
Superfund sitePALO ALTO CITY OF DEPT OF UTILITIES
Hazard sub-score27/100
Construction cost index138.8 (avg 100)

Location context

Nearest datacenterEquinix SV8
DC distance2.9 mi
Nearest rail1.7 mi
Nearest gas pipeline3.1 mi
Nearest fiber route177.4 mi
County hazard (FEMA NRI)Relatively High (48)
DC tax incentiveNo
Commercial electricity28.85¢/kWh
Industrial electricity22.78¢/kWh
Cooling degree days1,000
Heating degree days2,500
Land price / acre$12,311

Full DC Readiness breakdown

All 13 weighted sub-scores (0–100) behind the composite DC Readiness score.

Power availability20%
27
Speed to power15%
38
Fiber connectivity12%
92
Energy cost10%
52
Water risk8%
53
Natural hazard8%
27
Buildability7%
95
Labor market4%
50
DC cluster4%
100
Land / acreage3%
44
Construction cost3%
34
Gas pipeline2%
90
Tax incentive2%
0
Climate / cooling2%
75

Nearby comparable sites

Other scored datacenter candidate sites in San Mateo County, ranked by DC Readiness.

Sites near City of Palo Alto
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
MARTINSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW5.7 yrs63.4
POTREROSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW5.7 yrs62.1
S.L.A.C.Substation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW5.7 yrs62.0
RAVENSWOODSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW5.7 yrs61.0
BAYSHORESubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW5.7 yrs60.6
MT. VIEWSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW5.7 yrs60.5
LARKINSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW5.7 yrs60.3
SAN MATEOSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW5.7 yrs59.9

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.

Go deeper than the public screen

This page shows a public slice of the GridCensus dataset for City of Palo Alto, San Mateo County. 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.