Datacenter Sites in Franklin County, Iowa
Franklin County has 8 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 56.3/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 800 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Franklin County, Iowa has 8 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 56.3/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Iowa average of 56.3. It ranks 67th of 85 Iowa counties by number of sites and 35th by average score. The top-scoring site is Substation-Adjacent site · ada9b600 at 62.0/100.
Site-selection context for Franklin County
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $1M+ investments; property tax phase-in for new construction.
How does Franklin County compare with other counties in Iowa?
By number of scored sites, Franklin County ranks 67th of the 85 Iowa counties with a county page, holding 0.3% of the state's 2,572 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 56.3/100 ranks 35th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2586th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 5 score 55 or higher.
What types of datacenter sites are in Franklin County?
Greenfield sites are the most common (6, 75% of the county's inventory), followed by substation-adjacent (2). 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 Franklin County?
Industrial electricity averages 7.42¢/kWh and commercial 14.73¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (30). WRI water stress is low. 7 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 $10,718 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Franklin County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN130710 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 62.0 |
| UNKNOWN130592 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 59.7 |
| Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - UNKNOWN176402) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 55.6 |
| Greenfield (UNKNOWN130590 - BUTLER) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 55.4 |
| Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - CENTURY) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 55.2 |
| Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - UNKNOWN176402) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 54.9 |
| Greenfield (UNKNOWN130590 - BUTLER) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 54.7 |
| Greenfield (WHISPERING WILLOW NORTH - UNKN) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 52.9 |
Every scored site in Franklin County
All 8 sites, best first.
- Substation-Adjacent site · ada9b600 · 62.0
- Substation-Adjacent site · 33537458 · 59.7
- Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - UNKNOWN176402) · 7f5f901f · 55.6
- Greenfield (UNKNOWN130590 - BUTLER) · 9d76c399 · 55.4
- Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - CENTURY) · 55.2
- Greenfield (UNKNOWN130593 - UNKNOWN176402) · aa004a5f · 54.9
- Greenfield (UNKNOWN130590 - BUTLER) · 916fc03b · 54.7
- Greenfield (WHISPERING WILLOW NORTH - UNKN) · 52.9
Franklin County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Franklin County?
8 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 56.3/100 DC Readiness. That is the 67th-most of 85 Iowa counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Franklin County?
Substation-Adjacent site · ada9b600 scores 62.0/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 8 scored sites in Franklin County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Franklin County 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 Franklin County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Franklin County as "Relatively Moderate" (score 30).
What are industrial electricity rates in Franklin County?
Average industrial electricity is 7.42¢/kWh and commercial is 14.73¢/kWh in Franklin County.
More in Iowa
- All datacenter sites in Iowa· 2,572 sites
- Operating datacenters in Iowa
- Electric substations in Iowa
- Black Hawk County· 126 sites · avg 58.4
- Pottawattamie County· 123 sites · avg 57.0
- Clinton County· 118 sites · avg 54.2
- Johnson County· 112 sites · avg 57.9
- Linn County· 105 sites · avg 58.3
- Dubuque County· 101 sites · avg 55.8
- Greenfield sites in Iowa
- Substation-Adjacent sites 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 12, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “Datacenter candidate sites in Franklin County, Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/iowa/franklin-county (data as of November 12, 2026).
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
Go deeper than the public screen
Every site and score for Franklin County, 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.