Datacenter Sites in Avery County, North Carolina
Avery County has 10 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 600 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively High". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Avery County, North Carolina has 10 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the North Carolina average of 55.1. It ranks 70th of 88 North Carolina counties by number of sites and 52nd by average score. The top-scoring site is Substation-Adjacent site · 7970e835 at 57.4/100.
Site-selection context for Avery County
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for $75M+ investments; property tax abatement.
How does Avery County compare with other counties in North Carolina?
By number of scored sites, Avery County ranks 70th of the 88 North Carolina counties with a county page, holding 0.4% of the state's 2,778 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 54.8/100 ranks 52nd in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2409th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 7 score 55 or higher.
What types of datacenter sites are in Avery County?
Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (6, 60% of the county's inventory), followed by former mine (2) and industrial (1). 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 Avery County?
Industrial electricity averages 7.74¢/kWh and commercial 11.99¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively High" (42). WRI water stress is low. 6 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 1,600 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 59°F. Land is valued around $8,717 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Avery County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN110497 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 57.4 |
| UNKNOWN110496 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 57.3 |
| UNKNOWN110495 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.6 |
| CRANBERRY | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.5 |
| UNKNOWN110494 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.3 |
| TAP146142 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.3 |
| OZ Avery | Greenfield | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 55.2 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 51.2 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 50.6 |
| High Country Community Health | Industrial | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 50.5 |
Every scored site in Avery County
All 10 sites, best first.
- Substation-Adjacent site · 7970e835 · 57.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · f5cadf93 · 57.3
- Substation-Adjacent site · 3fa0d797 · 56.6
- CRANBERRY · 56.5
- Substation-Adjacent site · aedb54f3 · 56.3
- Substation-Adjacent site · b3f877ab · 56.3
- OZ Avery · 55.2
- Mine Site · d3174937 · 51.2
- Mine Site · d009dd05 · 50.6
- High Country Community Health · 50.5
Avery County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Avery County?
10 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness. That is the 70th-most of 88 North Carolina counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Avery County?
Substation-Adjacent site · 7970e835 scores 57.4/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 10 scored sites in Avery County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Avery County offer datacenter tax incentives?
Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for $75M+ investments; property tax abatement.
What is the natural-hazard risk in Avery County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Avery County as "Relatively High" (score 42).
What are industrial electricity rates in Avery County?
Average industrial electricity is 7.74¢/kWh and commercial is 11.99¢/kWh in Avery County.
More in North Carolina
- All datacenter sites in North Carolina· 2,778 sites
- Operating datacenters in North Carolina
- Electric substations in North Carolina
- Cumberland County· 264 sites · avg 52.4
- Durham County· 122 sites · avg 58.6
- Mecklenburg County· 109 sites · avg 60.0
- Guilford County· 86 sites · avg 53.8
- Wake County· 81 sites · avg 63.9
- Lee County· 76 sites · avg 52.3
- Substation-Adjacent sites in North Carolina
- Former Mine sites in North Carolina
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 Avery County, North Carolina”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/north-carolina/avery-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 Avery County, North Carolina 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.