# Elko County, Nevada: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Elko, West Wendover and Carlin No data center or power plant project is on record in Elko County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Elko County is home to Elko, West Wendover, Carlin and Wells. Next door, White Pine County has 600 MW of planned generation. Its power plants have 32 MW of capacity, 100% of it other technologies. Sierra Pacific Power Co is the largest utility serving Elko County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 14.52¢/kWh in 2024, above the 10.69¢ median for Nevada utilities. Employers here counted 22,540 jobs in 2025, unchanged from 2019. 32 MW of operating power plants, mostly other technologies 14.52¢ per kWh for Sierra Pacific Power Co residential customers, 2024 -0.0% total jobs since 2019, now 22,540 ## Cities and towns in Elko County Elko County is home to Elko, West Wendover, Carlin and Wells. Elko21,019 residents West Wendover4,576 residents Carlin2,011 residents Wells1,245 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Jackpot, Lamoille, Montello, Mountain City, Oasis, Osino, Owyhee, Spring Creek. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Elko County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Nevada | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 53,677 | 54,815 | ▲ 2.1% | 6th of 17 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 22,542 | 22,540 | ● 0.0% | 14th of 17 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $53,802 | $66,963 | ▲ 24.5% | — | | Electric utility jobs (2019 → 2025) | 93 | 93 | ● 0.0% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.0% | 2.8% | ▼ 0.2pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Unemployment was 2.8% in August 2026, against 3.0% in 2019. 54,815 people live here, up 2.1% since 2020, 6th of 17 Nevada counties by population. ## Who powers Elko County ### Utilities with service territory in Elko County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Sierra Pacific Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 330,891 | 14.52¢ | 42% | | Mt Wheeler Power, Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 5,169 | 8.50¢ | 7% | | Wells Rural Electric Co | Cooperative | Bundled | 4,621 | 10.05¢ | 8% | | Raft Rural Elec Coop Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 1,564 | 10.24¢ | 58% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Other technologies | 32 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Tuscarora Geothermal Power Plant | Ormat Nevada Inc | Other technologies | 32 MW | 2012 | ## The Elko County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 22,540 | $66,963 | 1.00 | | Electric utilities | 93 | $131,340 | 1.52 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Elko County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Elko County. Nevada has 11 local measures on record statewide, and 3 neighboring counties have one: [Box Elder County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/utah/box-elder-county), [Humboldt County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/humboldt-county), [White Pine County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/white-pine-county). ## Elko County and its neighbors Of the 9 counties that border Elko County, White Pine County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Elko County | 54,815 | ● 0.0% | 32 MW | — | — | — | | Box Elder County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/utah/box-elder-county) UT | 65,320 | ▲ 14.0% | 195 MW | 8 MW | — | 2 | | Cassia County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/idaho/cassia-county) ID | 26,397 | ▲ 8.2% | 132 MW | — | — | — | | Eureka County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/eureka-county) | 1,867 | ▼ 0.9% | 442 MW | — | — | — | | Humboldt County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/humboldt-county) | 17,267 | ▲ 2.5% | 738 MW | — | — | 1 | | Lander County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/lander-county) | 5,872 | ▲ 4.1% | 238 MW | 14 MW | — | — | | Owyhee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/idaho/owyhee-county) ID | 12,661 | ▲ 8.5% | 269 MW | — | — | — | | Tooele County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/utah/tooele-county) UT | 87,461 | ▲ 24.3% | 162 MW | — | — | — | | Twin Falls County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/idaho/twin-falls-county) ID | 97,539 | ▲ 6.9% | 598 MW | — | — | — | | White Pine County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/white-pine-county) | 8,661 | ▲ 4.4% | 150 MW | 600 MW | — | 1 | ## More of Nevada [All Nevada countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada)[Humboldt County17,267 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/humboldt-county)[White Pine County8,661 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/white-pine-county)[Lander County5,872 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/lander-county)[Eureka County1,867 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/eureka-county) ## Elko County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Elko County, Nevada? 4 utilities have service territory in Elko County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Sierra Pacific Power Co, Mt Wheeler Power, Inc, Wells Rural Electric Co, Raft Rural Elec Coop Inc. The largest, Sierra Pacific Power Co, charged residential customers 14.52¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Elko, NV in? Elko is in Elko County, Nevada. About 21,019 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What power plants are in Elko County? 1 operating plant with 32 MW of capacity. The largest is Tuscarora Geothermal Power Plant (32 MW, other technologies). ### Are there data centers in Elko County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Elko County. The nearest activity on record is next door in White Pine County. ### Is Elko County adding jobs? Employers counted 22,540 jobs in 2025 against 22,542 in 2019 (-0.0%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Elko County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Elko County. Nevada has 11 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nevada/elko-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).