Data centers and new power in Benton County, WA
10.9 GW of new power is waiting to connect to the grid in Benton County, WA — 20 active requests. Typical wait: 4.2 years. 8 projects are built, 41 withdrawn. Data as of 14 October 2026.
Is one near your house?
We have not mapped a large AI data center inside Benton County itself — but we track the biggest ones nationally, and requests to connect new power here are on the public record.
What is happening with electricity in Benton County
Every new power plant, battery or big customer has to join a waiting list before it can plug into the grid. This is what that list looks like in Benton County right now.
Where every request ever filed here ended up
Most requests in the US are withdrawn — a developer tests a site and moves on. That is normal, not a warning sign for Benton County.
What kind of power is asking to connect
By capacity requested. Data as of 14 October 2026.
All the numbers
70 requests ever filed
Source: interconnection queues published by BPA. Parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Data as of 14 October 2026. A queued project is a request, not a commitment.
Outcome of every request filed here
| Outcome | Projects | Capacity | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built | 8 | 1.7 GW | 11.4% |
| Still waiting | 20 | 10.9 GW | 28.6% |
| Withdrawn | 41 | 13.7 GW | 58.6% |
| Paused | 1 | — | 1.4% |
Waiting to connect, by type of power
| Type | Projects | Capacity requested |
|---|---|---|
| Solar | 13 | 9.2 GW |
| Nuclear | 2 | 1.3 GW |
| Wind | 3 | 328 MW |
| Batteries | 2 | 50 MW |
Key dates for projects here
no dated windows published
| Queue | What closes | Closes | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| FERC | FERC large-load show cause — stakeholder comments on RTO responses Comments on the six RTO/ISO responses to the FPA section 206 show-cause orders of 18 June 2026 (PJM EL26-67, SPP EL26-68, NYISO EL26-69, MISO EL26-70… | No date published yet | unconfirmed source |
| FERC | FERC RM26-4 — generic large-load rulemaking Still at ANOPR stage. | No date published yet | confirmed source |
| FERC | Georgia PSC - Georgia Power must file large-load contracts 30 days before execution A standing obligation rather than a dated one: large-load contracts must be filed with the commission at least 30 days before they are executed. | No date published yet | confirmed source |
A date marked confirmed was checked by a person against the authority's own tariff, order or form page. Anything else is listed so you know it exists, with a link so you can check it yourself. Full calendar.
The biggest projects on file
top 15 by size
| Project | Type | Capacity | Status | Filed | Queue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G0822 | Solar | 4.1 GW | active | 2022-11 | BPA |
| G0869 | Nuclear | 2.2 GW | withdrawn | 2023-06 | BPA |
| 1300MW Sickler-Schultz | Natural gas | 1.3 GW | withdrawn | 2001-05 | BPA |
| G0688 | Solar | 1.1 GW | active | 2021-08 | BPA |
| G0998 | Nuclear | 1.1 GW | active | 2023-11 | BPA |
| G0670 | Solar | 1.0 GW | active | 2021-02 | BPA |
| G0920 | Solar | 821 MW | active | 2023-08 | BPA |
| G1039 | Solar | 820 MW | active | 2023-11 | BPA |
| G0928 | Solar | 750 MW | withdrawn | 2023-09 | BPA |
| G0927 | Solar | 750 MW | withdrawn | 2023-09 | BPA |
| G0926 | Solar | 750 MW | withdrawn | 2023-09 | BPA |
| G0684 | Solar | 705 MW | completed | 2021-07 | BPA |
| 700MW Sickler-Schultz | Natural gas | 700 MW | withdrawn | 2001-05 | BPA |
| G0930 | Solar | 650 MW | withdrawn | 2023-09 | BPA |
| G1040 | Solar | 615 MW | active | 2023-11 | BPA |
Big new power users asking to connect
10 on record
Requests to connect large new customers — data centers, factories, electrification — rather than power plants.
| Request | Capacity | Status | Queue | Stated use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOE Data Center | 2.8 GW | active | BPA | not stated |
| Plymouth 950 MW | 950 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
| West Richland Data Center Campus | 912 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
| Plymouth Data Center Campus | 864 MW | withdrawn | BPA | not stated |
| Wind River - Plymouth 230 kV | 800 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
| GLP Data Center | 600 MW | withdrawn | BPA | not stated |
| Atlas Agro | 350 MW | energized | BPA | not stated |
| Atlas Agro Data Server Facility, Phase 2 | 300 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
| Atlas Agro Data Server Facility | 300 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
| ATP TES Data Server | 250 MW | active | BPA | not stated |
Most of these filings do not say what the power is for. “Not stated” is the filing's silence, not ours.
How Benton County compares
#8 in the US · #1 in WA
Benton County ranks #8 of 1,607 US counties by power waiting to connect, and #1 of 30 in Washington.
| County | Waiting | Capacity queued |
|---|---|---|
| Yakima County | 14 | 6.5 GW |
| Klickitat County | 23 | 6.2 GW |
| Douglas County | 8 | 3.6 GW |
| Grant County | 12 | 3.5 GW |
| Lincoln County | 9 | 2.0 GW |
| Lewis County | 4 | 1.6 GW |
| Spokane County | 11 | 973 MW |
| Adams County | 9 | 920 MW |
Common questions about power in Benton County
How long does it take to get power for a data center in Benton County, WA?
The median wait for a project still in the interconnection queue in Benton County is 4.2 years. Across the US, most large loads are quoted three to seven years depending on the market and whether network upgrades are needed. 8 projects in Benton County have reached energization and 41 were withdrawn, so the withdrawal rate here is a better guide to risk than any single quoted timeline.
How much capacity is available in Benton County, WA?
10.9 GW is currently requested across 20 active interconnection requests, and 1.7 GW has actually been built. A queued megawatt is a request, not deliverable capacity — most queued projects are never built. For deliverable offtake capacity at a specific substation you need a utility study, not a queue.
Is Benton County, WA a good site for a data center?
This page gives you the power half of that answer: what is queued, what has been energized, how long the wait runs, and which large load interconnection requests are already recorded nearby. The other half — the state policy position, moratoriums and large load tariffs — is on our Washington policy page.
Where does the data on this page come from?
The interconnection queue published by the transmission providers serving Benton County — BPA — parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Every figure carries the date it was true. Data as of 14 October 2026.
Go deeper on Benton County
The interactive map plots every one of these applications, and a generated county report puts them in a sourced PDF with the date each figure was true on every page.
Open Benton County on the map County reports All of Washington