Datacenter Sites in Barnes County, North Dakota
Barnes County has 14 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 750 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Low". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Barnes County, North Dakota has 14 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the North Dakota average of 55.7. It ranks 25th of 43 North Dakota counties by number of sites and 31st by average score. The top-scoring site is Substation-Adjacent site · c4125da8 at 62.3/100.
Site-selection context for Barnes County
Incentive detail: Property tax exemption for new DC construction for up to 5 years.
How does Barnes County compare with other counties in North Dakota?
By number of scored sites, Barnes County ranks 25th of the 43 North Dakota counties with a county page, holding 1.4% of the state's 1,020 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 54.8/100 ranks 31st in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2089th-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 Barnes County?
Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (5, 36% of the county's inventory), followed by industrial (4) and former mine (3). 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 Barnes County?
Industrial electricity averages 8.75¢/kWh and commercial 9.38¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Low" (20). WRI water stress is low-medium. 5 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 500 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 40°F. Land is valued around $2,861 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Barnes County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN133389 | Substation-Adjacent | 230 kV | 300 MW | 4.3 yrs | 62.3 |
| OZ Barnes | Greenfield | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 61.6 |
| UNKNOWN135159 | Substation-Adjacent | 115 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 58.4 |
| VALLEY CITY | Substation-Adjacent | 115 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 58.4 |
| UNKNOWN135244 | Substation-Adjacent | 115 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 57.7 |
| UNKNOWN135355 | Substation-Adjacent | 69 kV | 50 MW | 4.3 yrs | 55.9 |
| Valley City- Barnes County Health Building | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 52.5 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 52.3 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 52.1 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 51.7 |
| Greenfield (VALLEY CITY - JAMESTOWN) | Greenfield | 115 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 51.2 |
| City Bar | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 51.2 |
| Super Valu | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 51.2 |
| GI Enterprise Building | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 51.2 |
Every scored site in Barnes County
All 14 sites, best first.
- Substation-Adjacent site · c4125da8 · 62.3
- OZ Barnes · 61.6
- Substation-Adjacent site · 7730ef9a · 58.4
- VALLEY CITY · 58.4
- Substation-Adjacent site · 5ac2e8da · 57.7
- Substation-Adjacent site · b952a0dc · 55.9
- Valley City- Barnes County Health Building · 52.5
- Mine Site · 67947672 · 52.3
- Mine Site · 32377acf · 52.1
- Mine Site · c9fe66aa · 51.7
- Greenfield (VALLEY CITY - JAMESTOWN) · 51.2
- City Bar · 51.2
- Super Valu · 51.2
- GI Enterprise Building · 51.2
Barnes County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Barnes County?
14 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 54.8/100 DC Readiness. That is the 25th-most of 43 North Dakota counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Barnes County?
Substation-Adjacent site · c4125da8 scores 62.3/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 14 scored sites in Barnes County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Barnes County offer datacenter tax incentives?
Property tax exemption for new DC construction for up to 5 years.
What is the natural-hazard risk in Barnes County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Barnes County as "Relatively Low" (score 20).
What are industrial electricity rates in Barnes County?
Average industrial electricity is 8.75¢/kWh and commercial is 9.38¢/kWh in Barnes County.
More in North Dakota
- All datacenter sites in North Dakota· 1,020 sites
- Operating datacenters in North Dakota
- Electric substations in North Dakota
- Benson County· 85 sites · avg 51.2
- Ward County· 69 sites · avg 54.4
- Cass County· 58 sites · avg 58.0
- Williams· 56 sites · avg 56.5
- Rolette County· 55 sites · avg 52.7
- Burleigh County· 43 sites · avg 60.9
- Substation-Adjacent sites in North Dakota
- Industrial sites in North Dakota
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 Barnes County, North Dakota”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/north-dakota/barnes-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 Barnes County, North Dakota 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.