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Data centers in Iowa: 23 projects mapped
Iowa's sharpest data center fight is in Salix, a town of about 300 in Woodbury County that annexed about 900 acres of farmland in April for a possible data center. MidAmerican Energy named Google as the prospective customer on August 3, and on August 20 the city council voted 3-2 against a one-year moratorium. The council has started drafting data center rules and put off a data center memorandum of understanding until its October 14 meeting.
Nothing can be built yet. The land would still need rezoning, and Woodbury County and several landowners are challenging the annexation in court, arguing Salix did not notify neighbors properly and took in land that does not touch the town. County supervisors voted 5-0 on June 23 for a one-year moratorium in unincorporated areas; State Sen. Kevin Alons of Salix told them MidAmerican had evaded questions about the project's size. "Whatever you guys do will affect us," Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska council member Keely Bassette Purscell told the Salix council.
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The state's largest project is QTS's seven-building, 612-acre campus at the Big Cedar Industrial Center in Cedar Rapids, projected at $10 billion, where business leaders said 8,500 people were working in April. QTS says it will use a closed-loop cooling system, and QTS and Alliant Energy promised existing customers a five-year electricity rate freeze that ends in 2030. Linn County supervisors voted 2-1 on July 1 for an 18-month moratorium in unincorporated areas. Dubuque County approved a 12-month pause on May 26 after land south of Dubuque was bought for a possible data center.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement counts more than 25 counties and at least six cities with some form of pause and is urging more. Unions and economic development groups have formed Growing Iowa's Economy to promote what they call "responsible development" of data centers.
13 counties with tracked projects
Only places with at least one project have a page.
Where this comes from
The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.
Moratoriums and bans in effect
Places in Iowa that have paused or banned new data centers.
| Place | Type | Started | Ends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor County | Moratorium | Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 3, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Linn County | Moratorium | Jul 1, 2026 | Jan 1, 2028 | Record off site ↗ |
| Sioux County | Moratorium | Jun 23, 2026 | Jun 23, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Woodbury County | Moratorium | Jun 23, 2026 | Jun 23, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Plymouth County | Moratorium | Jun 17, 2026 | Jun 17, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| GuttenbergTown or city | Moratorium | Jun 8, 2026 | No end date | Record off site ↗ |
| Dubuque County | Moratorium | May 26, 2026 | May 26, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Madison County | Moratorium | May 26, 2026 | May 26, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Adair County | Moratorium | Mar 18, 2026 | No end date | Record off site ↗ |
| Shelby County | Moratorium | Mar 17, 2026 | Jul 1, 2027 | Record off site ↗ |
| Johnson County | Moratorium | Nov 8, 2025 | Nov 8, 2026 | Record off site ↗ |
| Clarke County | Moratorium | Jun 23, 2025 | No end date | Record off site ↗ |
Zoning limits on data centers
Rules short of a pause: setbacks, noise caps, permit requirements and district limits.
| Place | Type | Started | Ends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linn County | Zoning limits | Feb 18, 2026 | No end date | Record off site ↗ |
Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.