Iowa: data centers & your electric bill
The numbers residents cite at hearings — grid, water, and regulator contacts for Iowa, from the free GridWatch toolkit.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Iowa.
As of July 2026 · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
Your regulator
Iowa Utilities Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Iowa electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pushback already happening in Iowa
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubuque County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-05-26 | 12-month pause on permits and zoning requests for data center construction or expansion, amended up from 120 days; county will host weekly work sessions and at least four public town halls | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Linn County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-01-01 | 18-month pause on large-scale data center rezonings in unincorporated areas, passed 2-1 and effective immediately — adopted even after the county had put an ordinance in place | Source read 2026-08-04 |
| Clinton | Local | Rejected | Proposed moratorium rejected 5-2 as QTS considers an AI data center campus north of US-30/west of Mill Creek Parkway; council members argued a pause could send the wrong message to developers. | Source read 2026-08-12 |
| Salix | Local | Proposed | 1-year moratorium on data centers, formal vote scheduled Aug 12, 2026. Council voted 3-2 (Jul 8) to advance the concept after 100+ residents debated a MidAmerican Energy data center on ~900 acres of annexed farmland. | Source read 2026-08-12 |
| Marshalltown | Local | Proposed | 4-month moratorium passed first reading 6-1; motion to waive subsequent readings failed. Council previously voted down a 6-month moratorium in Jun | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Johnson County | Local | Enactedexpires 2026-11-08 | 1-year moratorium in unincorporated areas, unanimous. Excludes Iowa City, North Liberty, Coralville. Water/electrical bill concerns | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Linn County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-01-01 | 18-month moratorium on EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center rezoning in unincorporated areas, 2-1. Can end early or extend | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Dubuque County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-05-26 | 12-month moratorium, 2-1. Originally proposed as 120 days, extended during meeting. Planning and Zoning Commission had unanimously recommended the pause | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Woodbury County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-06-23 | 12-month moratorium in unincorporated areas, 5-0. Does NOT affect Salix, which annexed ~900 acres that MidAmerican Energy confirmed is being considered for a data center | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Plymouth County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-06-16 | 1-year moratorium on data centers and industrial battery storage, 4-0 (one absent). Revocable or extendable at any time | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Sioux County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-06-16 | 1-year moratorium on data centers and battery storage in unincorporated areas. PathOne Data Centers considering redeveloping former Bison Renewable Energy property near Hull | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Ida County | Local | Enacted | Indefinite moratorium, unanimous. Supervisors want more information before allowing development | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Madison County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-07-22 | 1-year moratorium, unanimous | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Shelby County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-07-01 | Moratorium through Jul 2027 while permanent rules are developed | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Clarke County | Local | Enacted | Temporary moratorium while permanent rules are developed | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Jefferson County | Local | Enacted | Moratorium on data centers passed by supervisors | Unverified |
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Known data center campuses in Iowa
| Operator | Location | Tenant | Filing LLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Council Bluffs | Land-acquisition shells: Jet Stream LLC, Sharka LLC | ||
| Meta | Altoona | Meta | Codename shells: Greater Kudu, Raven Northbrook, Stadion, Wobniar, Pinnacle Mountain |
| Microsoft | West Des Moines | Microsoft | Project-name / generic 'Holdings LLC'; less consistently codenamed |
⏳ No verification date recorded · changes over months · Source: Operator ownership & filing-LLC naming patterns — compiled from operator releases and county filings, then checked against SEC EDGAR full-text search. Composite, not a single citation: look the entity up yourself before naming it in a filing
Each row carries its own attribution level — first-party rows come from the operator's own site, but colocation and REIT ownership was compiled from trade press and never passed an independent fact-check. Check the attribution column before citing a row.
Every data center already built in Iowa
The campuses above are the ones GridWatch tracks by operator and filing LLC. For the full inventory — street addresses of every existing facility, including the smaller colocation and network sites — DataCenterMap keeps a public directory for Iowa.
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
Latest Iowa data center news
State municipal league: Iowa League of Cities
A data center was proposed near you?
The free toolkit walks you through it in five steps: who's really behind the LLC, what it costs your community, what to do this week, and a downloadable action pack — speech, letters, flyer, and CBA targets included.