How to cite this benchmark — and its provenance
Built so an appraiser or underwriter can defend the number in an engagement file. Every figure traces to a dated public source with a recorded SHA-256, and the model output carries its own hash.
Cite as
Plain / reference line
ThermoNeural. (2026). Cold-Store Energy & Cost Benchmark — refrigeration electricity cost per pallet position across 39 US markets (2026-Q4 edition). Retrieved from https://coldstore-benchmark.netlify.app/
BibTeX
@misc{coldstore-benchmark-2026,
author = {ThermoNeural},
title = {Cold-Store Energy \& Cost Benchmark: refrigeration electricity
cost per pallet position across { }39 US markets},
year = {2026},
edition = {2026-Q4},
howpublished = {\url{https://coldstore-benchmark.netlify.app/}},
note = {Data vintage: EIA 2024 state industrial tariff · NOAA 1991–2020 normals · USDA NASS Oct-2025 capacity. Exported 2026-10-08.}
}
One-line attribution
Source: Cold-Store Benchmark (2026-Q4), ThermoNeural — https://coldstore-benchmark.netlify.app/markets
The free per-market table may be quoted and redistributed with this attribution. For commercial redistribution, white-labelling or a data feed, contact hello@thermoneural.com.
Output provenance
The published table is the deterministic output of the engine reading the sources below. Reproduce it by re-running the fetch and build against the same vintages.
| Benchmark output | out/bench.csv — 39 markets |
|---|---|
| SHA-256 | 72f7e865d1141533f370b7eec67acbf33c16803397657ad0d518c2a671ab21fb |
| Output size | 2,778 bytes |
| Table export | 2026-10-08 |
| Data vintage | EIA 2024 state industrial tariff · NOAA 1991–2020 normals · USDA NASS Oct-2025 capacity |
| Registry generated | 2026-09-19 · freshness checked 2026-09-19 15:04 |
Source registry — SHA-256 of every input
The files the engine reads, as recorded at last fetch. Full hashes are in the registry; shown here truncated. All US-government sources are public domain; third-party items are cited cross-checks, never page numbers.
| Source | Fetched | Bytes | SHA-256 | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOAA NCEI ClimDiv - cooling degree days, county (1895-present) | 2026-09-19 | 40,602,276 | 1f59344d732cec36… | US Government work / public domain (NOAA open data) |
| NOAA NCEI ClimDiv - cooling degree days, climate division | 2026-09-19 | 4,579,932 | 57b0ea6ad032042d… | US Government work / public domain (NOAA open data) |
| NOAA NCEI ClimDiv - cooling degree days, statewide | 2026-09-19 | 812,028 | 267b33c5e30dd549… | US Government work / public domain (NOAA open data) |
| NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals (45 airport stations, MLY-TAVG-NORMAL) | 2026-09-19 | 43,839 | 74e89afd96c91fe3… | US Government work / public domain (NOAA open data) |
| EIA - Electric Sales, Revenue & Average Price, Table 4 (state average tariff) | 2026-09-19 | 15,262 | e5a6964b5100890f… | US Government work / public domain (EIA) |
| EIA - Table 5B, average monthly bill, commercial sector | 2026-09-19 | 14,823 | 3780f551ec879221… | US Government work / public domain (EIA) |
| EIA - Table 5C, average monthly bill, industrial sector | 2026-09-19 | 14,745 | e441d7b80225ed74… | US Government work / public domain (EIA) |
| USDA NASS - Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses (biennial), 2025 Summary | 2026-09-19 | 653,254 | 6d72bafa528cce52… | US Government work / public domain (NASS) |
| USDA NASS - Cold Storage (monthly, stocks by commodity) | 2026-09-19 | 682,017 | b1b3eb4e11065e59… | US Government work / public domain (NASS) |
| SEC XBRL companyfacts - Lineage, Inc. (CIK 1868159) | 2026-09-19 | 764,314 | f0f7b28591a547e6… | US Government work / public domain; SEC requires a descriptive User-Agent |
| SEC XBRL companyfacts - Americold Realty Trust (CIK 1455863) | 2026-09-19 | 2,267,730 | 225b87617d1b3e0a… | US Government work / public domain; SEC requires a descriptive User-Agent |
| USDA NASS Quick Stats daily bulk (animals_products, tab-delimited) | 2026-09-19 | 12,002,374 | 42ca7aa1700272af… | US Government work / public domain (NASS) |
| CommercialEdge - national industrial report (dry industrial rent, NOT cold-specific) | 2026-09-19 | 5,573 | 867b251b96b48a9d… | third-party blog - cited as a cross-check, not a data source |
Method, in one place
Refrigeration electricity is modelled, not metered. Cooling load comes from NOAA 1991–2020 airport normal temperatures; power draw uses a Carnot reference at 0.45×Carnot with a 10 K condenser approach and a 10 K minimum lift; the tariff is the 2024 EIA state industrial average. The reference facility is fixed everywhere: 100,000 sq ft, 11 m clear, 22,000 pallet positions, 60% frozen at −18 °C and 40% chilled at +2 °C, 150 mm panels, electric defrost.
| Model type | Engineering estimate (0.45×Carnot reference) |
|---|---|
| Condenser approach | 10 K |
| Minimum lift | 10 K |
| Reference facility | 100,000 sq ft · 11 m clear · 22,000 pallet positions · 60% frozen / 40% chilled |
| Tariff | EIA state industrial average, 2024 vintage |
| Climate | NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 monthly normals (airport stations) |
| Markets | 39 |
Full method, sensitivity ranges and the engine code ship with the paid report. This is a modelled estimate — it answers "what should this building cost to run here", not "what did you pay last year".