Datacenter Sites in Swain, North Carolina
Swain has 8 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 59.8/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 700 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively High". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Swain, North Carolina has 8 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 59.8/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the North Carolina average of 55.1. It ranks 75th of 88 North Carolina counties by number of sites and 4th by average score. The top-scoring site is Substation-Adjacent site · b4ab37d0 at 60.5/100.
Site-selection context for Swain
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and electricity for $75M+ investments; property tax abatement.
How does Swain compare with other counties in North Carolina?
By number of scored sites, Swain ranks 75th 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 59.8/100 ranks 4th in the state and is about 13% above the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2586th-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 Swain?
Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (7, 88% 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 Swain?
Industrial electricity averages 8.83¢/kWh and commercial 10.75¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively High" (42). WRI water stress is low. 5 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 $10,139 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Swain
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN110049 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.5 |
| UNKNOWN109778 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.4 |
| TAP144704 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.4 |
| UNKNOWN169933 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.1 |
| UNKNOWN109790 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.1 |
| TAP144718 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 60.1 |
| TAP145896 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 5.3 yrs | 59.9 |
| OZ Swain | Greenfield | — | — | 5.3 yrs | 57.0 |
Every scored site in Swain
All 8 sites, best first.
- Substation-Adjacent site · b4ab37d0 · 60.5
- Substation-Adjacent site · 35a054ea · 60.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · 92d89106 · 60.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · b3549107 · 60.1
- Substation-Adjacent site · 48cda698 · 60.1
- Substation-Adjacent site · 183cea85 · 60.1
- Substation-Adjacent site · 1bc9a041 · 59.9
- OZ Swain · 57.0
Swain datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Swain?
8 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 59.8/100 DC Readiness. That is the 75th-most of 88 North Carolina counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Swain?
Substation-Adjacent site · b4ab37d0 scores 60.5/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 8 scored sites in Swain (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Swain 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 Swain?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Swain as "Relatively High" (score 42).
What are industrial electricity rates in Swain?
Average industrial electricity is 8.83¢/kWh and commercial is 10.75¢/kWh in Swain.
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 Swain, North Carolina”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/north-carolina/swain (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 Swain, 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.