Not every parcel near a substation is a data center site. The GridAlpha Score is a proprietary 0-100 composite index that quantifies which parcels actually merit acquisition. It evaluates nine component scores across four weighted dimensions: acreage suitability (20%), technical assessment covering soil, flood, and wetland conditions (30%), arbitrage economics comparing current assessed value to data center land comparable sales (30%), and owner motivation signals including tax delinquency, absentee ownership, and long-term hold indicators (20%). Three infrastructure proximity bonuses layer on top: fiber access (+10 points), rail (+5), and highway (+5). Parcels scoring 85 or above are classified as Hot — exceptional across all dimensions. Those scoring 70 to 84 are High priority. The minimum qualifying threshold is 60. Every scored lead includes a full component breakdown in both the dashboard and the institutional site book, giving acquisition teams complete transparency into the score's composition.
See Scored LeadsFour weighted dimensions plus three infrastructure bonuses produce the composite GridAlpha Score on every parcel.
Exceptional across all dimensions. Strong arbitrage spread, favorable technical conditions, motivated owner, excellent infrastructure proximity. Immediate acquisition candidate.
Strong fundamentals with actionable acquisition potential. May have one dimension slightly below optimal — e.g., moderate owner motivation or acceptable (not optimal) fiber distance.
Viable opportunity requiring additional due diligence on one or more dimensions. Often strong on arbitrage economics but with a technical constraint or longer entitlement path.
No black boxes. Every GridAlpha Score includes a complete component breakdown so you know exactly why a parcel ranked where it did.
View all nine component scores in the GridAlpha dashboard — acreage, soil, flood, wetland, arbitrage, motivation, fiber, rail, and highway. Filter and sort leads by any individual component or the composite score.
Every qualified lead (score 60+) includes a five-page PDF site book with the full scoring breakdown, financial projections, infrastructure proximity map, technical assessment, and methodology disclosure — ready for investment committee review.
GridAlpha Scores are recalculated on every pipeline run. High-priority states are scanned daily, standard states every two days, and monitoring states weekly — ensuring scores reflect the latest queue activity, ownership changes, and assessment updates.
The GridAlpha Score is a proprietary 0-100 composite index that quantifies a land parcel's suitability for data center development. It combines nine component scores across four weighted dimensions — acreage suitability (20%), technical assessment (30%), arbitrage economics (30%), and owner motivation (20%) — plus three infrastructure proximity bonuses for fiber (+10), rail (+5), and highway (+5). Parcels scoring 60 or above qualify as leads.
The score blends four weighted dimensions: acreage suitability evaluates parcel size relative to campus requirements (20% weight), technical assessment covers USDA soil classification, FEMA flood zones, and NWI wetland scoring (30% weight), arbitrage economics measures the spread between assessed value and DC land comps (30% weight), and owner motivation captures tax delinquency, absentee ownership, estate indicators, and long-hold signals (20% weight). Three infrastructure bonuses are then applied.
GridAlpha uses three priority tiers: Hot (85+) indicates exceptional suitability across all dimensions. High (70-84) indicates strong fundamentals and actionable acquisition potential. Medium (55-69) indicates a viable opportunity that may require additional due diligence on one or more dimensions. The minimum qualifying score for lead delivery is 60.
The score draws from multiple authoritative datasets: HIFLD for substation and transmission line proximity, FCC Broadband Data Collection for fiber proximity, USDA Soil Data Access for soil classification, FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer for flood zone analysis, National Wetlands Inventory for wetland constraints, county GIS portals for parcel boundaries, and county assessor records for valuations and ownership patterns.
The fiber bonus adds up to 10 points based on distance to the nearest lit fiber route. Thresholds: less than 1 mile (optimal) adds +10 points, 1-3 miles (good) adds +5 points, 3-5 miles (acceptable) adds 0 points, 5-9 miles (marginal) subtracts 10 points, and greater than 9 miles results in a disqualification flag. Fiber data is sourced from FCC Broadband Data Collection records.
Yes. Every qualified lead includes a full component breakdown showing individual scores for all nine dimensions: acreage, soil, flood, wetland, arbitrage spread, owner motivation, fiber proximity, rail access, and highway access. This breakdown appears in the GridAlpha dashboard and in every institutional site book PDF, providing full transparency into each parcel's score composition.
Scores are recalculated on every pipeline run. High-priority states scan daily, standard-priority states every two days, and monitoring-tier states weekly. Infrastructure datasets are refreshed on a regular cadence. County assessor and ownership data is captured at parcel discovery and updated when parcels are re-encountered in subsequent pipeline runs.
Get access to GridAlpha's 0-100 composite index on every parcel near grid infrastructure across 21 states. Ranked, explained, and delivered with institutional site books.
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