Datacenter Sites in Graham County, North Carolina
Graham County has 7 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 56.1/100 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
Graham County, North Carolina has 7 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 56.1/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the North Carolina average of 55.1. It ranks 79th of 88 North Carolina counties by number of sites and 32nd by average score. The top-scoring site is NANTAHALA at 58.6/100.
Site-selection context for Graham County
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for $75M+ investments; property tax abatement.
How does Graham County compare with other counties in North Carolina?
By number of scored sites, Graham County ranks 79th of the 88 North Carolina counties with a county page, holding 0.3% of the state's 2,778 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 56.1/100 ranks 32nd in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2670th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 6 score 55 or higher.
What types of datacenter sites are in Graham County?
Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (6, 86% of the county's inventory), followed by greenfield (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 Graham County?
Industrial electricity averages 7.80¢/kWh and commercial 11.44¢/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 $8,917 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Graham County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NANTAHALA | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 58.6 |
| ROBBINSVILLE SWITCHING STATION | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.8 |
| CALDERWOOD | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 3.9 yrs | 56.3 |
| FONTANA | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.3 |
| CHEOAH | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.1 |
| UNKNOWN109548 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 56.1 |
| OZ Graham | Greenfield | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 52.7 |
Every scored site in Graham County
All 7 sites, best first.
- NANTAHALA · 58.6
- ROBBINSVILLE SWITCHING STATION · 56.8
- CALDERWOOD · 56.3
- FONTANA · 56.3
- CHEOAH · 56.1
- Substation-Adjacent site · 0bbbbcc5 · 56.1
- OZ Graham · 52.7
Graham County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Graham County?
7 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 56.1/100 DC Readiness. That is the 79th-most of 88 North Carolina counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Graham County?
NANTAHALA scores 58.6/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 7 scored sites in Graham County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Graham 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 Graham County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Graham County as "Relatively High" (score 42).
What are industrial electricity rates in Graham County?
Average industrial electricity is 7.80¢/kWh and commercial is 11.44¢/kWh in Graham 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 13, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “Datacenter candidate sites in Graham County, North Carolina”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/north-carolina/graham-county (data as of November 13, 2026).
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
Go deeper than the public screen
Every site and score for Graham 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.