States with the Lowest Water Stress for Cooling
States ranked by the average water sub-score (higher = lower water stress) — a proxy for cooling-water availability across candidate sites. Maine leads with 95.7 (average water sub-score), ahead of Alaska (94.4).
At a glance
| # | State | Average water sub-score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine | 95.7 |
| 2 | Alaska | 94.4 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 93.8 |
| 4 | Vermont | 93.8 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 93.5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 93.3 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 91.5 |
| 8 | Alabama | 91.4 |
| 9 | Minnesota | 91.4 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 90.9 |
| 11 | Rhode Island | 89.9 |
| 12 | Indiana | 89.8 |
| 13 | Mississippi | 89.7 |
| 14 | New York | 89.7 |
| 15 | Ohio | 89.6 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 89.4 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | 89.1 |
| 18 | Massachusetts | 87.8 |
| 19 | Missouri | 87.7 |
| 20 | Virginia | 87.6 |
| 21 | Illinois | 87.4 |
| 22 | Iowa | 87.3 |
| 23 | Louisiana | 86.6 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 86.0 |
| 25 | Hawaii | 84.1 |
| 26 | New Jersey | 84.0 |
| 27 | Delaware | 83.7 |
| 28 | Maryland | 83.7 |
| 29 | Arkansas | 83.3 |
| 30 | North Carolina | 83.2 |
| 31 | South Carolina | 82.9 |
| 32 | District of Columbia | 80.3 |
| 33 | North Dakota | 79.8 |
| 34 | Georgia | 79.5 |
| 35 | South Dakota | 76.0 |
| 36 | Florida | 75.9 |
| 37 | Oklahoma | 64.1 |
| 38 | Washington | 63.7 |
| 39 | Oregon | 59.9 |
| 40 | Nebraska | 59.6 |
| 41 | Montana | 56.1 |
| 42 | Kansas | 53.9 |
| 43 | Wyoming | 48.4 |
| 44 | Texas | 45.8 |
| 45 | Idaho | 44.2 |
| 46 | Colorado | 37.3 |
| 47 | California | 27.2 |
| 48 | Utah | 25.2 |
| 49 | New Mexico | 22.6 |
| 50 | Arizona | 17.2 |
| 51 | Nevada | 11.4 |
What does this ranking measure?
The average water sub-score (0–100) across a state's candidate sites, derived from the World Resources Institute (WRI) water-stress score. Higher scores mean lower water stress, a proxy for cooling-water availability. Higher values rank first. This ranking covers 51 states, computed from 147,272 scored candidate sites, and spans 95.7 at the top and 11.4 at the bottom. The median state sits at 84.0.
How do the top 5 compare with the national figure?
The top 5 are Maine (95.7), Alaska (94.4), New Hampshire (93.8), Vermont (93.8), Wisconsin (93.5). That compares with the national average of 72.3. In all, 36 of 51 states do better than that figure. Their candidate sites sit mostly in ISO-NE, SERC, MISO territory. At the other end, New Mexico (22.6), Arizona (17.2), Nevada (11.4) rank lowest.
How does Maine rank on other measures?
Maine has 1,183 catalogued candidate sites with an average DC Readiness score of 53.5 and an average interconnection-queue wait of 4.3 years. On the other state rankings it places 29th of 51 for datacenter readiness (53.5); 39th of 51 for most datacenter candidate sites (1,183); 44th of 51 for largest catalogued candidate capacity (23.6k MW); 29th of 51 for shortest interconnection queue wait (4.3 yrs); 39th of 51 for fastest speed-to-power (46.4); 30th of 49 for most brownfield datacenter sites (8).
Values are screening estimates from public data — not site-specific assessments, and catalogued capacity is a theoretical aggregate, not deliverable power. Full methodology →
Ranking FAQ
States with the Lowest Water Stress for Cooling: which state ranks first?
Maine ranks first with 95.7 (average water sub-score), followed by Alaska (94.4).
How is this ranking calculated?
The average water sub-score (0–100) across a state's candidate sites, derived from the World Resources Institute (WRI) water-stress score. Higher scores mean lower water stress, a proxy for cooling-water availability. 51 states are ranked (states with at least 50 candidate sites), higher values first.
Which state ranks last?
Nevada ranks 51st of 51, at 11.4.
How many states beat the national figure?
36 of 51 states do better than the national average of 72.3.
How often is this ranking updated?
It is recomputed from the full candidate-site dataset after each monthly data refresh.
Explore the leading states
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, “States with the Lowest Water Stress for Cooling”, https://gridcensus.com/rankings/states-lowest-water-stress (data as of November 12, 2026).
Related rankings
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
Go deeper than the public screen
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