Guided by discussions with industry stakeholders, we compiled data from a variety of sources for users to toggle on and off in CEA SiteScout based on their unique interests. These data layers fall into four general categories: Climate and Environment; Land Use and Utilities; Social and Economic; and Co-Location Opportunities. Because not all the data layers of interest are publicly available at the national scale, some data displayed in the tool (e.g., water and wastewater lines) are only included for our five spotlight communities. Additionally, please note that the data layers displayed in the tool represent the best information publicly available at the time of tool development (2024), but more recent and/or accurate data may have been released since then. The U.S. Department of Energy assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this data, and users should ensure that they ensure the limitations of these datasets prior to using them for analysis, decision-making, or any other application.
Please use the following citation to reference the current version of the tool:
Huntington, Tyler, Hodson, Abigayle, Aghajanzadeh, Arian, Negron-Juarez, Robinson, Stokes-Draut, Jennifer, & USDOE. (2025). CEA SiteScout, v1 [Computer software].
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate Zones | U.S. Department of Energy | 2023 | Climate zone designations used by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America Program by county boundaries (generalized version). |
| Temperature | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2024 | Five-year (June 2019 - May 2024) average temperature at the county level (degrees Fahrenheit). |
| Heating Degree Days | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2024 | Five-year (June 2019 - May 2024) average heating degree days at the county level (Fahrenheit degree-days). |
| Cooling Degree Days | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2024 | Five-year (June 2019 - May 2024) average cooling degree days at the county level (Fahrenheit degree-days). |
| Precipitation | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2024 | 12-month (May 2023 - May 2024) average precipitation at the county level (inches). |
| Solar Insolation | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2012 | Average daily total solar resource averaged over surface cells of 0.1 degrees in both latitude and longitude, or about 10 kilometers in size (Wh/square meter/day) (1998-2009). The insolation values represent the resource available to a fixed flat plate system tilted towards the equator at an angle equal to the latitude. |
| Wind Power Class | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2012 | Wind power class; potential capacity estimated assuming 5 MW/square kilometer. Onshore wind data is based on 50 meter height above surface, only applies to areas of low surface roughness (i.e., grassy plains), and excludes areas with slopes greater than 20%. |
| Geothermal Wells & Springs | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2015 | Data includes available information on location, temperature, flow rate, acidity and total dissolved solid content of 2,071 wells and springs which are representative of 1,168 low-temperature geothermal systems identified in 26 States. |
| Geothermal Temperature | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2012 | Data shows an estimate of shallow, low temperature geothermal resources at 500 meters (degrees Celsius). |
| Soil Properties | National Resource Conservation Service | 2014 | Area- and depth-weighted averages of select soil attributes for every available county in the conterminous U.S. and the District of Columbia as of March 2014. The files are derived from Natural Resources Conservations Service’s (NRCS) Soil Survey Geographic database (SSURGO). |
| Air Quality | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | County-level non-attainment zones for ozone, PM 2.5, PM 10, and sulfur dioxide. Non-attainment zones are areas that exceed primary or secondary national ambient air quality standards. |
| Soil Slope | U.S. Geological Survey | 2020 | A raster dataset representing slope in the conterminous United States. This dataset was created from the radian slope raster of 100-meter spatial resolution developed by Ramcharan et al. (2018). Those data were derived from a conterminous 100-meter Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the United States (http://nationalmap.gov/) using SAGA GIS software. Cropped to spotlight community states due to size constraints. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land Cover | U.S. Geological Survey | 2020 | Land cover for conterminous United States from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), which is based on remotely sensed Landsat data. Cropped to spotlight community states due to size constraints. |
| Cropland | U.S. Department of Agriculture | 2023 | The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Cropland Data Layer (CDL) is an annual raster, geo-referenced, crop-specific land cover data layer produced using satellite imagery and extensive agricultural ground reference data. Cropped to spotlight community states due to size constraints. |
| Electric Power Transmission Lines | U.S. Homeland Infrastructure Foundation | 2024 | Transmission lines are defined as the system of structures, wires, insulators and associated hardware that carry electric energy from one point to another in an electric power system. Underground transmission lines are included where sources were available. |
| Electric Power Substations | U.S. Homeland Infrastructure Foundation | 2020 | Substations are considered facilities and equipment that switch, transform, or regulate electric power at voltages equal to, or greater than, 69 kilovolts. Substations with a maximum operating voltage less than 69 kilovolts may be included, depending on the availability of authoritative sources, but coverage of these features should not be considered complete. |
| Major Natural Gas Pipelines | U.S. Energy Information Administration | 2020 | Major natural gas transmission pipelines in the United States, including interstate, intrastate, and gathering pipelines. |
| Community Water System Service Areas | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Community water system service area boundaries that describe the geographic area that receives drinking water from a given community water system. |
| Wastewater Treatment Plants | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2022 | Centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment infrastructure from Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS). |
| Power Reliability | (Brelsford et al., 2023) | 2023 | Total number of customers affected by power outages per county, every fifteen minutes, in 2023. |
| Freight Routes | U.S. Department of Transportation | 2024 | The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF), produced through a partnership between Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive picture of freight movement among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. |
| Electricity Rates | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2022 | This dataset, compiled by NREL using data from ABB, the Velocity Suite (http://energymarketintel.com/) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration dataset 861 (http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/), provides average residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates with likely zip codes for both investor owned utilities (IOU) and non-investor owned utilities (cents/kWh). Note: the files include average rates for each utility (not average rates per zip code), but not the detailed rate structure data found in the OpenEI U.S. Utility Rate Database (https://openei.org/apps/USURDB/). |
| Natural Gas Rates | U.S. Energy Information Administration | 2022 | State-level average price of natural gas sold to commercial consumers (dollars per thousand cubic feet). |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description | Population Density | U.S. Census Bureau | 2023 | Population density by county (people/square kilometer). |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per Capita Income | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis | 2022 | Per capita personal income by county (dollars/person/year). |
| Unemployment Rate | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2024 | Unemployment rate by county, not seasonally adjusted (2023-2024). |
| Education Level | U.S. Census Bureau | 2022 | Education attainment level by county and age group from the American Community Survey (2022). |
| Food Access | U.S. Department of Agriculture | 2019 | Census-tract-level data on food access. |
| Opportunity Zones | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | 2023 | Decennial census tracts designated as qualified opportunity zones. |
| CEA Prevailing Wage | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2023 | Wage information (mean hourly, mean annual) for ‘Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse,’ as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
| CEA Workers | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2023 | Estimated population by occupation for ‘Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse,’ as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
| Warehouse Workers | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2023 | Estimated population by occupation for ‘Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand,’ as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colleges and Universities | U.S. Homeland Infrastructure Foundation | 2022 | Colleges and universities, as defined by the Integrated Post Secondary Education System (IPEDS). |
| Power Plants | U.S. Energy Information Administration | 2024 | Operable electric generating plants by energy source in the U.S., including plants that are operating, on standby, or short- or long-term out of service. Covers plants with a combined nameplate capacity of 1 MW or more. |
| Anaerobic Digesters | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Wastewater, agriculture, and standalone anaerobic digesters. |
| Composting Facilities | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | |
| Farmers Markets | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | |
| Food Banks | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Also includes food pantries and soup kitchens. |
| Food Wholesalers and Retailers | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Food wholesalers and retailers (supermarkets, grocery stores, and supercenters), as represented by 24 unique NAICS codes. |
| Food Manufacturers and Processors | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Food manufacturers and processors, as represented by 45 NAICS codes |
| Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | |
| Landfills | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Owner/operator organization, operational status, year opened, actual or expected closure year, design capacity, amount of waste in place, gas collection system status, and amount of landfill gas (LFG) collected for more than 2,600 municipal solid waste landfills. |
| Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Microgrid Installations | U.S. Department of Energy | 2024 | Operational combined heat and power and microgrid installations throughout the U.S.; note that point locations displayed in tool reflect centroid of city, not actual location of installation. |
| CEA Facilities | Livic Consulting and CEA Alliance | 2024 | Non-comprehensive dataset of U.S. CEA facilities obtained through personal communication with Livic Consulting and the CEA Alliance. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land Value | Riverside County Information Technology GIS | 2023 | Property values from the county’s assessor office. |
| Land Use | Riverside County Mapping Portal | 2023 | Land use designations as stated in the Riverside County General Plan. |
| Zoning |
Riverside County Mapping Portal,
City of Riverside |
2023, 2024 | |
| Wastewater Lines | City of Riverside | 2024 | |
| Wastewater Service Area | City of Riverside | 2024 | |
| Water Lines | City of Riverside | 2023 | Non-comprehensive, only includes major water lines. |
| Water Rates | City of Riverside Public Utilities Department | 2023 |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land Value | York County GIS Portal | 2024 | Contains parcel ID (APN), ownership information, legal descriptions, assessed land and improvement values, exemptions, and tax district codes. |
| Land Use | York County GIS Portal | 2024 | |
| Zoning | York County GIS Portal | 2024 | |
| Water Rates | Original Dataset | 2024 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commercial rates for relevant water providers. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning | Augusta, Georgia Open Data | 2024 | |
| Wastewater Service Area | Augusta Utilities Department | 2024 | Obtained through communications with utility department. Disclaimer from city: “This data has been compiled by the best methods available. Accuracy is contingent upon the source information as compiled by various agencies and departments both internal and external to the consolidated government of Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, Georgia and the companies contracted to develop this data assume no legal responsibilities for the information or accuracy contained herein. It is strictly forbidden to sell or reproduce these maps or data for any reason without the written consent of the Augusta, Georgia Commission." |
| Water Rates | Original Dataset | 2024 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commercial rates for relevant water providers. |
| Opportunity Zones | Augusta, Georgia GIS | 2024 |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil Properties | County of Kaua'i Open Data Hub | 2022 | |
| Thermal Springs | State of Hawaii Office of Sustainable Development | 2000 | Thermal springs, which can show potential for warm ground water. |
| High Temperature Resource Areas | State of Hawaii Office of Sustainable Development | 2000 | Geothermal high temperature resource areas for the Hawaiian Islands. |
| Zoning | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program | 2023 | |
| Land Use | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program | 2024 | Based on tax class for parcels in K'auai. |
| On-site Sewage Disposal Systems | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program | 2010 | On-site sewage disposal systems for the island of Kaua'i. |
| Wastewater Treatment Plants | State of Hawaii Office of Sustainable Development | 2023 | |
| Wastewater Lines | Kaua'i GIS | 2019 | |
| Water Rates | County of Kaua'i Department of Water | 2024 | |
| Agricultural Land |
Hawaii Statewide GIS Program,
The University of Hawaii at Hilo Spatial Data Analysis & Visualization (SDAV) Laboratory |
2020, 2020 | Lands classified as important agricultural lands by the State Land Use Commission and Hawaiʻi Statewide Agricultural Land Use Baseline layer. |
| Land Cover | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2010 | 2010 NOAA High Res Land Cover: HI Kaua'i. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Lines | Lucas County GIS | Unknown | Not comprehensive; only covers Lucas County, Ohio. |
| Wastewater Lines | Lucas County GIS | Unknown | Not comprehensive; only covers Lucas County, Ohio. |
| Wastewater Service Area | Lucas County GIS | Unknown | Not comprehensive; only covers Lucas County, Ohio. |
| Land Use |
Ottawa County Auditor,
Wayne County GIS, Erie County GIS Advisory Board, Lucas County GIS, Lorain County Auditor |
2024; 2020; 2022; 2024; 2024 | Not comprehensive; only covers Ottawa County, OH; Wayne County, MI; Erie County, OH; Lucas County, OH; and Lorain County, OH. |
| Land Value |
Ottawa County Auditor,
Wayne County GIS, Erie County GIS Advisory Board, Lucas County GIS, Monroe County Property Data Exchange, Lorain County Auditor |
2024; 2024; 2022; 2024; 2020; 2024 | Not comprehensive; only covers Ottawa County, OH; Wayne County, OH; Erie County, OH; Lucas County, OH; Monroe County, MI; and Lorain County, OH. |
| Water Rates | Original Dataset | 2024 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commercial rates for relevant water providers. |
| Zoning | Ottawa County Auditor, Lucas County GIS, Fulton County Ohio Zoning and Permitting Viewer, Lorain County Auditor | 2023; 2024; 2024; 2023 | Not comprehensive; only covers Ottawa County, OH; Lucas County, OH; Fulton County, OH; and Lorain County, OH. Lucas County data obtained upon request from GIS department. |