Guided by discussions with industry stakeholders, we compiled data from a variety of sources for users to toggle on and off in the CEA Screening Tool 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, XXX). CEA Screening Tool, 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). |
| Average 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 | 2008 | Average daily total solar resource averaged over surface cells of 0.1 degrees in both latitude and longitude, or about 10 km 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 | 2008 | Wind power class; potential capacity estimated assuming 5 MW/aquare kilometer. Onshore wind data is based on 50 meter height above surface and 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 | 2022 | 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 | 2022 | Data shows an estimate of shallow, low temperature geothermal resources of the United States at 500 meters. |
| Soil Properties | National Resource Conservation Service | 2014 | Area- and depth-weighted averages of select soil attributes for every available county in the conterminous United States 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 nonattainment zones, including 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 Class | United States 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. Slope values are put into 9 slope classes to facilitate interpretation and reporting. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land Cover | U.S. Geological Survey | 2020 | Remotely sensed Landsat data is used in the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) to provide the land surface change information needed by scientists, resource managers, and decision-makers. The annual NLCD uses a modernized, integrated approach to map, monitor, synthesize, and understand the complexities of land use, cover, and condition change. |
| Cropland | U.S. Department of Agriculture | 2023 | Crop-specific land cover data layer produced using satellite imagery and extensive agricultural ground reference data. |
| 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 U.S., including interstate, intrastate, and gathering pipelines. |
| Community Water System Service Areas | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | Community water system service area boundaries 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. |
| Power Reliability | (Brelsford et al., 2023) | 2022 | Total number of customers affected by power outages per county in 2023. |
| Major 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. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity Rates | National Renewable Energy Laboratory | 2022 | Provides average residential, commercial, and industrial electricity rates with zip codes for both investor owned utilities (IOU) and non-investor owned utilities. |
| 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). |
| Population Density | U.S. Census Bureau | 2023 | Population by county (2021-2023). |
| Income | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis | 2024 | Per capita personal income by county (2020-2022). |
| Unemployment Rate | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2024 | Unemployment rate by county, not seasonally adjusted (2023-2024). |
| Educational 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. |
| Economic Opportunity Zones | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | 2023 | Spatial data for all U.S. decennial census tracts designated as qualified opportunity zones. |
| 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. |
| Population (Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse) | 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. |
| Population (Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand) | 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. |
| Colleges and Universities | U.S. Homeland Infrastructure Foundation | 2022 | Colleges and universities, as defined by the Integrated Post Secondary Education System (IPEDS). |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. The data covers all 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, Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | 2024 | |
| 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 and Microgrid Installations | U.S. Department of Energy | 2024 | Operational combined heat and power and microgrid installations throughout the U.S.; note, point locations 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil Properties | City of Riverside | 2023 | |
| Land Price | Riverside County Information Technology GIS | 2023 | Property values from the county’s assessor office. |
| Land Use | Riverside County Mapping Portal | 2023 | Land use, according to the General Plan. |
| Land Zoning | Riverside County Mapping Portal | 2023 | |
| Drinking Water System Area Boundaries | California State Geoportal | 2024 | Service area boundaries of drinking water service providers, as verified by the Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board. |
| Conventional Farmland | Riverside County Information Technology GIS | 2024 | |
| Cropland | Department of Water Resources | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil Properties | York County GIS Portal | 2024 | |
| Land Cost | 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 | |
| Land Zoning | York County GIS Portal | 2024 | |
| Public Water Supply Areas | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection GIS Portal | 2024 | Boundaries of current public water supplier's (PWS) service areas. This data set contains the present service area boundary of the water system and does not contain locations of surface and groundwater sources, storage facilities, transmission and distribution system lines, and interconnections with other water systems. |
| Water Rates | Original Dataset | 2024 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commerical rates for relevant water providers. |
| Dataset Name | Source | Last Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil Properties | Augusta, Georgia Open Data | 2024 | |
| Land Parcels | Augusta, Georgia Open Data | 2024 | Includes parcel boundaries and identification number, but not price. |
| Land 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 commerical 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 | |
| On-site Sewage Disposal Systems | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program | 2010 | |
| 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 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commerical rates for relevant water providers. |
| Conventional Farmland | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program | 2021 | Lands classified as important agricultural lands by the State Land Use Commission. |
| Land Cover | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 2010 | Lands classified as important agricultural lands by the State Land Use Commission. |
| 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. |
| Water 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; Lorain County, OH. |
| Land Cost |
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, MI; Erie County, OH; Lucas County, OH; Monroe County, MI; Lorain County, OH. |
| Water Rates | Original Dataset | 2024 | Manually compiled by tool development team using most recently reported commerical rates for relevant water providers. |
| Zoning | 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; Lorain County, OH. |