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Datacenter Sites in Pondera County, Montana

Pondera County has 32 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 1,650 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Very Low". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Pondera County, Montana has 32 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Montana average of 54.3. It ranks 32nd of 55 Montana counties by number of sites and 20th by average score. The top-scoring site is CONRAD at 64.0/100.

32
Candidate sites
55.4/100
Avg DC Readiness
1,650 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Very Low
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Pondera County

Site-selection context for Pondera County

Yesproperty_tax_abatement
Datacenter tax incentive
8.14¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
5.64¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
5
Fiber providers
Medium-High
Water stress
$1,751
Land price / acre
400
Cooling degree days
7,600
Heating degree days
42°F
Mean annual temp

Incentive detail: New/expanding industry tax abatement available for DC construction.

How does Pondera County compare with other counties in Montana?

By number of scored sites, Pondera County ranks 32nd of the 55 Montana counties with a county page, holding 1.3% of the state's 2,542 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 55.4/100 ranks 20th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 1196th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 18 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Pondera County?

Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (18, 56% of the county's inventory), followed by industrial (12) and former mine (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 Pondera County?

Industrial electricity averages 5.64¢/kWh and commercial 8.14¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Very Low" (12). WRI water stress is medium-high. 5 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 400 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 42°F. Land is valued around $1,751 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Pondera County

Top datacenter sites in Pondera County
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
CONRADSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW1.1 yrs64.0
UNKNOWN201552Substation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW1.1 yrs62.8
UNKNOWN202594Substation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW1.1 yrs59.2
UNKNOWN202593Substation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW1.1 yrs59.2
CONRAD AUTOSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW1.1 yrs58.9
UNKNOWN204627Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW1.1 yrs58.6
UNKNOWN202342Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW1.1 yrs58.5
VAILIER WILLIAMSSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.8
UNKNOWN204546Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.7
TAP208171Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.3
UNKNOWN208167Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.2
UNKNOWN208172Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.1
TAP208177Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.1
UNKNOWN208166Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs57.0
TAP208175Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs56.9
UNKNOWN208168Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs56.9
UNKNOWN207838Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs56.2
UNKNOWN207836Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW1.1 yrs55.7
Mine SiteFormer Mine——1.1 yrs53.7
Roy Davis PropertyIndustrial——1.1 yrs53.0
Mine SiteFormer Mine——1.1 yrs52.9
Fisher Flats DumpIndustrial——1.1 yrs51.9
Comes At Night HouseIndustrial——1.1 yrs51.4
Margie Kennedy CenterIndustrial——1.1 yrs51.4
Rutherford HouseIndustrial——1.1 yrs51.4

Every scored site in Pondera County

All 32 sites, best first.

Pondera County datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Pondera County?

32 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness. That is the 32nd-most of 55 Montana counties with five or more sites.

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

CONRAD scores 64.0/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 32 scored sites in Pondera County (a substation-adjacent site).

Does Pondera County offer datacenter tax incentives?

New/expanding industry tax abatement available for DC construction.

What is the natural-hazard risk in Pondera County?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pondera County as "Very Low" (score 12).

What are industrial electricity rates in Pondera County?

Average industrial electricity is 5.64¢/kWh and commercial is 8.14¢/kWh in Pondera County.

More in Montana

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 Pondera County, Montana”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/montana/pondera-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 Pondera County, Montana 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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