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Datacenter Sites in Rice, Minnesota

Rice has 34 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 58.8/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 1,150 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Rice, Minnesota has 34 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 58.8/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Minnesota average of 56.0. It ranks 29th of 85 Minnesota counties by number of sites and 10th by average score. The top-scoring site is EC Near West Fairbault · fb37a37c at 63.6/100.

34
Candidate sites
58.8/100
Avg DC Readiness
1,150 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Rice

Site-selection context for Rice

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
12.19¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
10.39¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
12
Fiber providers
Low
Water stress
$8,330
Land price / acre
600
Cooling degree days
7,700
Heating degree days
42°F
Mean annual temp

Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for qualified DCs.

How does Rice compare with other counties in Minnesota?

By number of scored sites, Rice ranks 29th of the 85 Minnesota counties with a county page, holding 1.1% of the state's 3,216 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 58.8/100 ranks 10th in the state and is about 11% above the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 1141st-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 28 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Rice?

Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (19, 56% of the county's inventory), followed by greenfield (10) and former mine (4). 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 Rice?

Industrial electricity averages 10.39¢/kWh and commercial 12.19¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (25). WRI water stress is low. 12 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 600 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 42°F. Land is valued around $8,330 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Rice

Top datacenter sites in Rice
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs63.6
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.9
UNKNOWN129409Substation-Adjacent161 kV100 MW4.3 yrs62.8
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.3
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs62.2
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.8
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.6
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs61.5
UNKNOWN129406Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs60.6
UNKNOWN129411Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs60.6
UNKNOWN129433Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs60.0
TAP138587Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs59.9
TAP138580Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs59.8
UNKNOWN129424Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs59.6
TAP138578Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs59.6
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs59.5
TAP138579Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs58.9
UNKNOWN129417Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs58.8
EC Near West FairbaultGreenfield——4.3 yrs58.4
TAP138597Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs58.3
TAP138589Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs58.2
UNKNOWN133158Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs58.0
UNKNOWN132855Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs57.9
UNKNOWN129455Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs57.9
NORTHFIELDSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs57.8

Every scored site in Rice

All 34 sites, best first.

Rice datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Rice?

34 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 58.8/100 DC Readiness. That is the 29th-most of 85 Minnesota counties with five or more sites.

What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Rice?

EC Near West Fairbault · fb37a37c scores 63.6/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 34 scored sites in Rice (a greenfield site).

Does Rice offer datacenter tax incentives?

Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for qualified DCs.

What is the natural-hazard risk in Rice?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Rice as "Relatively Moderate" (score 25).

What are industrial electricity rates in Rice?

Average industrial electricity is 10.39¢/kWh and commercial is 12.19¢/kWh in Rice.

More in Minnesota

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 Rice, Minnesota”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/minnesota/rice (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 Rice, Minnesota 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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