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Datacenter Sites in Buena Vista, Iowa

Buena Vista has 36 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.9/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 1,250 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Buena Vista, Iowa has 36 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.9/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Iowa average of 56.3. It ranks 20th of 85 Iowa counties by number of sites and 55th by average score. The top-scoring site is EC Near Alta Municipal Utilities · 8d533e47 at 57.8/100.

36
Candidate sites
54.9/100
Avg DC Readiness
1,250 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Buena Vista

Site-selection context for Buena Vista

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
11.03¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
7.39¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
11
Fiber providers
Low
Water stress
$11,332
Land price / acre
900
Cooling degree days
6,500
Heating degree days
48°F
Mean annual temp

Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $1M+ investments; property tax phase-in for new construction.

How does Buena Vista compare with other counties in Iowa?

By number of scored sites, Buena Vista ranks 20th of the 85 Iowa counties with a county page, holding 1.4% of the state's 2,572 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 54.9/100 ranks 55th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 1072nd-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 17 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Buena Vista?

Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (22, 61% of the county's inventory), followed by greenfield (14). Site type reflects how the parcel was identified — next to a substation, on a former mine or brownfield, on industrial or federal excess land — and is scored on the same 14 factors either way.

What are power cost, hazard, water and fiber conditions in Buena Vista?

Industrial electricity averages 7.39¢/kWh and commercial 11.03¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (30). WRI water stress is low. 11 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 900 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 48°F. Land is valued around $11,332 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Buena Vista

Top datacenter sites in Buena Vista
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs57.8
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs57.6
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs57.4
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs57.2
UNKNOWN130442Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs57.1
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs56.8
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs56.7
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs56.4
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs56.4
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs56.1
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs55.9
UNKNOWN130717Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.6
UNKNOWN168148Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.6
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs55.3
UNKNOWN168149Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
TAP168145Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.1
UNKNOWN159985Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.0
EC Near Alta Municipal UtilitiesGreenfield——4.3 yrs54.9
UNKNOWN168143Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.9
UNKNOWN168156Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.8
UNKNOWN167973Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.6
TAP167972Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.5
UNKNOWN167974Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.4
UNKNOWN157694Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.3
TAP167967Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs54.3

Every scored site in Buena Vista

All 36 sites, best first.

Buena Vista datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Buena Vista?

36 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 54.9/100 DC Readiness. That is the 20th-most of 85 Iowa counties with five or more sites.

What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Buena Vista?

EC Near Alta Municipal Utilities · 8d533e47 scores 57.8/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 36 scored sites in Buena Vista (a greenfield site).

Does Buena Vista offer datacenter tax incentives?

Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $1M+ investments; property tax phase-in for new construction.

What is the natural-hazard risk in Buena Vista?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Buena Vista as "Relatively Moderate" (score 30).

What are industrial electricity rates in Buena Vista?

Average industrial electricity is 7.39¢/kWh and commercial is 11.03¢/kWh in Buena Vista.

More in Iowa

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 November 13, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: GridCensus, “Datacenter candidate sites in Buena Vista, Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/iowa/buena-vista (data as of November 13, 2026).

Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Go deeper than the public screen

Every site and score for Buena Vista, Iowa 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.

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