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Datacenter Sites in Stearns County, Minnesota

Stearns County has 82 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 53.4/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 2,300 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Stearns County, Minnesota has 82 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 53.4/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Minnesota average of 56.0. It ranks 7th of 85 Minnesota counties by number of sites and 77th by average score. The top-scoring site is QUARRY at 64.2/100.

82
Candidate sites
53.4/100
Avg DC Readiness
2,300 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Stearns County

Site-selection context for Stearns County

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
12.43¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
9.56¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
21
Fiber providers
Low
Water stress
$5,605
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 Stearns County compare with other counties in Minnesota?

By number of scored sites, Stearns County ranks 7th of the 85 Minnesota counties with a county page, holding 2.5% of the state's 3,216 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 53.4/100 ranks 77th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 422nd-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 Stearns County?

Industrial sites are the most common (33, 40% of the county's inventory), followed by substation-adjacent (31) and former mine (16). 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 Stearns County?

Industrial electricity averages 9.56¢/kWh and commercial 12.43¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (25). WRI water stress is low. 21 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 $5,605 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Stearns County

Top datacenter sites in Stearns County
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
QUARRYSubstation-Adjacent345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs64.2
UNKNOWN131451Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs58.0
TAP135052Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs58.0
UNKNOWN131455Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs57.9
PAYNESVILLESubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW4.3 yrs57.3
TAP162594Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs56.1
UNKNOWN157196Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs56.1
BIG FISHSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.9
UNKNOWN158058Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.9
TAP162611Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.8
TAP162612Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.8
TAP162590Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.8
UNKNOWN158064Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.7
TAP162591Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.7
TAP162589Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.7
UNKNOWN158284Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.6
UNKNOWN158285Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.6
UNKNOWN162597Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
UNKNOWN162577Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
UNKNOWN143501Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
TAP162585Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
TAP162578Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.3
UNKNOWN135063Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.1
UNKNOWN162587Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.1
UNKNOWN157201Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW4.3 yrs55.1

Every scored site in Stearns County

All 82 sites, best first.

Stearns County datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Stearns County?

82 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 53.4/100 DC Readiness. That is the 7th-most of 85 Minnesota counties with five or more sites.

What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Stearns County?

QUARRY scores 64.2/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 82 scored sites in Stearns County (a substation-adjacent site).

Does Stearns County offer datacenter tax incentives?

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

What is the natural-hazard risk in Stearns County?

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

What are industrial electricity rates in Stearns County?

Average industrial electricity is 9.56¢/kWh and commercial is 12.43¢/kWh in Stearns County.

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 Stearns County, Minnesota”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/minnesota/stearns-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 Stearns County, 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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