Datacenter Sites in Cherokee County, North Carolina
Cherokee County has 10 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.1/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 800 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively High". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Cherokee County, North Carolina has 10 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.1/100 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 47th by average score. The top-scoring site is MURPHY at 57.0/100.
Site-selection context for Cherokee County
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for $75M+ investments; property tax abatement.
How does Cherokee County compare with other counties in North Carolina?
By number of scored sites, Cherokee 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 55.1/100 ranks 47th 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 8 score 55 or higher.
What types of datacenter sites are in Cherokee County?
Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (7, 70% of the county's inventory), followed by greenfield (2) and former mine (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 Cherokee County?
Industrial electricity averages 6.73¢/kWh and commercial 13.00¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively High" (42). WRI water stress is low. 4 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 $6,855 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Cherokee County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MURPHY | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 57.0 |
| UNKNOWN109616 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.9 |
| TAP145812 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.5 |
| TAP145813 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.4 |
| UNKNOWN109534 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.4 |
| UNKNOWN109532 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.3 |
| OZ Cherokee | Greenfield | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 56.2 |
| UNKNOWN109533 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 55.9 |
| Greenfield (TAP145637 - TAP145962) | Greenfield | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 49.8 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 49.5 |
Every scored site in Cherokee County
All 10 sites, best first.
- MURPHY · 57.0
- Substation-Adjacent site · 63a2c292 · 56.9
- Substation-Adjacent site · 139279f3 · 56.5
- Substation-Adjacent site · 25dc2867 · 56.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · 38c8b935 · 56.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · 0eaabc7e · 56.3
- OZ Cherokee · 56.2
- Substation-Adjacent site · 03a91b40 · 55.9
- Greenfield (TAP145637 - TAP145962) · 49.8
- Mine Site · 44e023a9 · 49.5
Cherokee County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Cherokee County?
10 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 55.1/100 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 Cherokee County?
MURPHY scores 57.0/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 10 scored sites in Cherokee County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Cherokee 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 Cherokee County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cherokee County as "Relatively High" (score 42).
What are industrial electricity rates in Cherokee County?
Average industrial electricity is 6.73¢/kWh and commercial is 13.00¢/kWh in Cherokee 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
- Greenfield 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 Cherokee County, North Carolina”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/north-carolina/cherokee-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 Cherokee 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.