Data Centers in Rhode Island

Rhode Island – A Strategic Edge to New England

Rhode Island offers a compact but strategic location for data center deployments serving the broader New England region. It is best suited for organizations needing a secondary site with low-latency connectivity to the primary Boston and New York markets. The state provides a viable alternative for disaster recovery and edge computing applications that benefit from its geographic position between these major hubs.

Rhode Island: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Rhode Island's connectivity is reliable for regional needs, leveraging its proximity to major northeastern carrier hotels.

• Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: The market is served by over 4 regional and national carriers, with 5 data centers available for colocation, as of September 2025. Carrier neutrality is standard, providing choice for network services.

• Direct Cloud On-Ramps: There are no public cloud on-ramps located directly within Rhode Island. Businesses requiring dedicated access to cloud providers must establish private network connections to facilities in Boston, the closest major hub.

• Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The state does not host any major public internet exchanges. Most peering is handled privately or routed through major IXPs in Boston or New York City to achieve efficient traffic exchange.

• Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available from providers that serve the northeastern United States. Companies like Hivelocity and ColoCrossing can provision dedicated servers in nearby markets with low latency to Rhode Island.

Power Analysis

• Average Cost Of Power: Expect industrial power costs in the range of $0.17 - $0.20/kWh, as of September 2025. These rates are higher than the U.S. national average and represent a significant factor in total operational cost. The state's power mix is heavily dependent on natural gas, which accounts for approximately 87% of generation.

• Power Grid Reliability: The regional power grid is well-engineered for commercial and industrial use. Data centers in the area typically source power from redundant substations to ensure uptime and fault tolerance, meeting standard enterprise requirements.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

• Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers in Rhode Island, particularly around Providence, provide low-latency access to the state's financial, healthcare, and university sectors. They also sit strategically close to the dense business corridors of Boston, located just 50 miles away.

• Regional Market Reach: The state is an effective point of presence for reaching the southern New England population, including Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. Its location is ideal for edge computing and content delivery networks.

• Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Rhode Island does not offer data center-specific tax incentives. Businesses should assume that standard state sales and corporate taxes apply to all IT hardware, software, and services purchases.

Natural Disaster Risk

Rhode Island has a High natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 75.02, as of September 2025. This elevated score is driven primarily by its coastal location and exposure to Atlantic weather patterns.

Key risks for consideration include hurricanes, coastal flooding, ice storms, and riverine flooding. Careful due diligence on facility location, elevation, and structural hardening is essential to mitigate potential service disruptions from these weather-related events.