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Datacenter Sites in Buchanan County, Virginia

Buchanan County has 619 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 50.0/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 1,500 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Buchanan County, Virginia has 619 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 50.0/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Virginia average of 52.2. It ranks 1st of 122 Virginia counties by number of sites and 104th by average score. The top-scoring site is OZ Buchanan at 58.7/100.

619
Candidate sites
50.0/100
Avg DC Readiness
1,500 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Buchanan County

Site-selection context for Buchanan County

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
7.67¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
5.33¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
3
Fiber providers
Low
Water stress
$4,490
Land price / acre
1,300
Cooling degree days
4,000
Heating degree days
55°F
Mean annual temp

Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $150M+ investments (2025: $100M+); MEGA site program.

How does Buchanan County compare with other counties in Virginia?

By number of scored sites, Buchanan County ranks 1st of the 122 Virginia counties with a county page, holding 11% of the state's 5,871 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 50.0/100 ranks 104th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 10th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 14 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Buchanan County?

Former Mine sites are the most common (581, 94% of the county's inventory), followed by substation-adjacent (22) and manufacturing (8). 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 Buchanan County?

Industrial electricity averages 5.33¢/kWh and commercial 7.67¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (30). WRI water stress is low. 3 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 1,300 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 55°F. Land is valued around $4,490 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Buchanan County

Top datacenter sites in Buchanan County
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
OZ BuchananGreenfield——5.1 yrs58.7
EC Coal Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs57.2
EC Coal Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs56.6
EC Coal Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs56.4
HALES BRANCHSubstation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.2
TAP154562Substation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.2
TAP154580Substation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.1
UNKNOWN113093Substation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.1
SHACK MILLS STATIONSubstation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.1
LOONEY CREEKSubstation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs56.0
EC Coal Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs56.0
KEAN MTN AND GRASSY CREEKSubstation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs55.9
FLETCHERS RIDGESubstation-Adjacent138 kV100 MW5.1 yrs55.8
EC FFE Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs55.0
EC Coal Buchanan CountyGreenfield——5.1 yrs54.8
HURLEYSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.9
DISMAL RIVERSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.9
GRUNDYSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
TAP160535Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
TURKEY PENSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
TAP160534Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
TAP147815Substation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
MARVINSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
JEWELL SMOKELESS C AND C COAL COSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8
COAL CREEKSubstation-Adjacent69 kV50 MW5.1 yrs53.8

Every scored site in Buchanan County

All 619 sites, best first.

Buchanan County datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Buchanan County?

619 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 50.0/100 DC Readiness. That is the most of 122 Virginia counties with five or more sites.

What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Buchanan County?

OZ Buchanan scores 58.7/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 619 scored sites in Buchanan County (a greenfield site).

Does Buchanan County offer datacenter tax incentives?

Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $150M+ investments (2025: $100M+); MEGA site program.

What is the natural-hazard risk in Buchanan County?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Buchanan County as "Relatively Moderate" (score 30).

What are industrial electricity rates in Buchanan County?

Average industrial electricity is 5.33¢/kWh and commercial is 7.67¢/kWh in Buchanan County.

More in Virginia

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 Buchanan County, Virginia”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/virginia/buchanan-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 Buchanan County, Virginia 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.

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