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Datacenter Sites in Whatcom County, Washington

Whatcom County has 73 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 3,800 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.

At a glance

Whatcom County, Washington has 73 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Washington average of 51.7. It ranks 19th of 39 Washington counties by number of sites and 12th by average score. The top-scoring site is OLD TOWN at 64.8/100.

73
Candidate sites
55.4/100
Avg DC Readiness
3,800 MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
Relatively Moderate
Hazard rating
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Whatcom County

Site-selection context for Whatcom County

Yessales_tax_exemption
Datacenter tax incentive
8.04¢/kWh
Commercial electricity
6.57¢/kWh
Industrial electricity
9
Fiber providers
Low-Medium
Water stress
$20,475
Land price / acre
300
Cooling degree days
5,000
Heating degree days
48°F
Mean annual temp

Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and construction for eligible facilities; no state income tax.

How does Whatcom County compare with other counties in Washington?

By number of scored sites, Whatcom County ranks 19th of the 39 Washington counties with a county page, holding 1.2% of the state's 6,019 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 55.4/100 ranks 12th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 494th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 25 score 55 or higher.

What types of datacenter sites are in Whatcom County?

Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common (26, 36% of the county's inventory), followed by former mine (19) and industrial (17). 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 Whatcom County?

Industrial electricity averages 6.57¢/kWh and commercial 8.04¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (28). WRI water stress is low-medium. 9 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 300 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 48°F. Land is valued around $20,475 an acre.

By site type

Top datacenter sites in Whatcom County

Top datacenter sites in Whatcom County
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
OLD TOWNSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs64.8
TAP206066Substation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs64.7
BELLINGHAMSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs64.6
TAP206065Substation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs64.6
BELLINGHAMSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs63.4
SEHOMESubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.4
TAP207868Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.2
LEHIGHSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.2
TAP206063Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.1
TAP206043Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.1
TAP207869Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.1
BAKERVIEWSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs60.0
UNKNOWN207864Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs59.0
TAP206056Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.9
LAURELSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.9
UNKNOWN207863Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.8
TAP207866Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.7
UNKNOWN206058Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.6
NUGENTS CORNERSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.6
LAKE LOUISESubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.5
LYNDENSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.4
BERTHUSENSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs58.2
SCHUETTSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs57.2
UNKNOWN206282Substation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs57.0
KENDALLSubstation-Adjacent115 kV100 MW3.5 yrs56.3

Every scored site in Whatcom County

All 73 sites, best first.

Whatcom County datacenter FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Whatcom County?

73 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 55.4/100 DC Readiness. That is the 19th-most of 39 Washington counties with five or more sites.

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

OLD TOWN scores 64.8/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 73 scored sites in Whatcom County (a substation-adjacent site).

Does Whatcom County offer datacenter tax incentives?

Sales tax exemption on DC equipment and construction for eligible facilities; no state income tax.

What is the natural-hazard risk in Whatcom County?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Whatcom County as "Relatively Moderate" (score 28).

What are industrial electricity rates in Whatcom County?

Average industrial electricity is 6.57¢/kWh and commercial is 8.04¢/kWh in Whatcom County.

More in Washington

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 Whatcom County, Washington”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/washington/whatcom-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 Whatcom County, Washington 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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