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Datacenter Sites in Story, Iowa

Story has 46 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 59.1/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 913 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Story, Iowa has 46 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 59.1/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Iowa average of 56.3. It ranks 15th of 85 Iowa counties by number of sites and 9th by average score. The top-scoring site is EC Near Iowa State University · f06263a4 at 65.3/100.

46
Candidate sites
59.1/100
Avg DC Readiness
913 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Story

Site-selection context for Story

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
11.53¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
7.37¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
16
Fiber providers
Low
Water stress
$10,914
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 Story compare with other counties in Iowa?

By number of scored sites, Story ranks 15th of the 85 Iowa counties with a county page, holding 1.8% of the state's 2,572 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 59.1/100 ranks 9th in the state and is about 12% above the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 836th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 33 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Story?

Greenfield sites are the most common (24, 52% of the county's inventory), followed by industrial (11) and substation-adjacent (7). 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 Story?

Industrial electricity averages 7.37¢/kWh and commercial 11.53¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (30). WRI water stress is low. 16 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 $10,914 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Story

Top datacenter sites in Story
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs65.3
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs65.2
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs64.2
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.9
EC Near NCAH Central Utility PlantGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.6
Iowa State UniversityBrownfield—9 MW4.3 yrs62.3
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.3
UNKNOWN133811Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs62.2
UNKNOWN130993Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs62.2
UNKNOWN132120Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs62.0
NCAH Central Utility PlantBrownfield—1 MW4.3 yrs61.9
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.8
UNKNOWN130992Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs61.7
EC Near Iowa State UniversityGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.5
EC Near Ames Diesel Generating StationGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.2
Ames Diesel Generating StationBrownfield—2 MW4.3 yrs61.2
EC Near Alliant SBD 8603 DonnelleyGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.2
EC Near NCAH Central Utility PlantGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.1
EC Near NCAH Central Utility PlantGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.0
EC Near Alliant SBD 8603 DonnelleyGreenfield——4.3 yrs60.8
EC Near Ames Diesel Generating StationGreenfield——4.3 yrs60.8
EC Near Alliant SBD 8603 DonnelleyGreenfield——4.3 yrs60.7
EC Near Alliant SBD 8603 DonnelleyGreenfield——4.3 yrs60.6
EC Near Alliant SBD 8603 DonnelleyGreenfield——4.3 yrs60.5
UNKNOWN130799Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs60.5

Every scored site in Story

All 46 sites, best first.

Story datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Story?

46 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 59.1/100 DC Readiness. That is the 15th-most of 85 Iowa counties with five or more sites.

What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Story?

EC Near Iowa State University · f06263a4 scores 65.3/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 46 scored sites in Story (a greenfield site).

Does Story 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 Story?

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

What are industrial electricity rates in Story?

Average industrial electricity is 7.37¢/kWh and commercial is 11.53¢/kWh in Story.

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 12, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: GridCensus, “Datacenter candidate sites in Story, Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/iowa/story (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 Story, 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.