County · Minnesota
Houston County
Population 18,400 · Census Bureau Vintage-2025 estimate
Last scored Jul 13, 2026 · Data may be stale
Composite · JPAS tier readings
Power
Power reads 47 of 100, sourced evidence. Power measures grid capacity, interconnection-queue depth, generation mix, retail price and substation density. Interconnection-queue depth is an estimated roll-up (EST); queue vintage PJM 2026-04-28, CAISO 2025-02-12.
Politics
Regulatory reads 100 of 100, sourced evidence. Regulatory measures air-quality designation under the Clean Air Act and commercial permitting activity. Regulatory is evidenced by air-quality designation and permitting activity; a county absent from EPA's nonattainment list reads as attainment. Attainment here is by absence of an EPA designation; EPA's county list is complete, so absence reads as attainment.
Community reads 54 of 100, sourced evidence. Community measures enacted moratoria, pending legislation and farmland share as signals of local consent.
Incentives reads 100 of 100, estimated evidence. Incentives measures state program baselines and disclosed awards for data-center and industrial projects.
Resources
Water reads 77 of 100, sourced evidence. Water measures drinking-water system health, basin stress, streamflow and groundwater conditions.
Real estate / site reads 48 of 100, sourced evidence. Real estate / site measures developable land share, convertible sites, substation hosting and permit velocity.
Environmental reads 72 of 100, sourced evidence. Environmental measures FEMA hazard risk across riverine, coastal, wind, wildfire and related perils.
Labor reads 72 of 100, sourced evidence. Labor measures electrician depth, wages, unemployment and prevailing-wage floors in the county labor market.
Connectivity
Connectivity is not yet activated as a brief section; the Network tier reading is shown.
Network reads 91 of 100, sourced evidence. Network measures broadband availability, fiber and middle-mile programs, and exchange-point proximity.
Density · JDS
Density · None · 2 of 100
Data-center density is absent in this county (JDS None, 2 of 100). County grain: computed from facilities, construction and permitted projects resolved to this county.
Trajectory · JTS
- ModeledJTS-01 Trajectory rate of change — rising — Modeled — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-02 Inflection points — rising — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- ModeledJTS-03 Trajectory volatility — rising — Modeled — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-04 Momentum — falling — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-05 Forecast confidence decay — rising — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- ModeledJTS-07 Utility capital investment trend — rising — Modeled — covers 2020–2025
Windows held: 2026 · 2020–2025. Direction and evidence label only; horizons extend only as data lands.
Water & Cooling Readiness
Water posture inferred from nearby jurisdictions' measurements.
Water posture inferred from statewide data; no jurisdiction-level water measurement is available.
Gauge data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
JPS Score Breakdown · Jurisdiction Posture Score
Per-dimension posture values are not yet published for this jurisdiction.
Infrastructure Map
Faraday's Read
Houston County currently sits in the Cautious tier with a posture score of 35, reflecting a generally guarded profile for AI data center development. The attribute evidence base is moderate in quality and medium in completeness, with sourced-confidence data (0.85) covering environmental, labor, network, power, and water categories, suggesting a reasonably substantiated picture across these areas, though incentive and regulatory attributes rest on only a single estimated-confidence data point each and should be treated with caution. No data center facilities are currently recorded in the jurisdiction, and development density scoring is unavailable, leaving that dimension unknown rather than indicative of low activity. The posture forecast points to a stable direction over the next six months, but this projection carries an unscored confidence label, so it should be read as a placeholder rather than a firm signal. Overall, Houston County's record shows decent breadth of sourced environmental, labor, network, power, and water data, but thin and low-confidence coverage on incentives and regulatory posture leaves meaningful gaps in the picture.
Gilbert Faraday · Jul 17, 2026
Recent Signals
No signal events in the past 30 days for this jurisdiction.