Data centers in Black Hawk County, Iowa: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Cedar Falls turned down a crypto mine beside a power plant that has not been built yet. Cedar Falls Utilities has planned since 2022 to build the Viking Energy Center, a gas-fired plant, in the West Viking Road Industrial Park, and the city proposed rezoning about 38 acres there so that Simple Mining, a Cedar Falls bitcoin miner, could operate next to it. The rules would have required 200-foot setbacks from homes, noise mitigation and a water-cooling plan.

Neighbors objected at the first hearing in March 2026. Nathan Nebbe, whose family has lived on 22 acres across from the industrial park since 1981, called the notice letter "a gut punch" and said, "There is so much insecurity here, so much doubt, such a lack of information." His father, Dennis Nebbe, said the plant and mine would "probably destroy the value of our property." Simple Mining's Matt Hein said the site would need at least 50 employees and use larger, slower fans to cut noise; Cedar Falls Utilities said its plant would use closed-loop water and no on-site wells.

On May 18, 2026, the City Council followed its planning commission and unanimously rejected the zoning amendments. Simple Mining's founder, Adam Haynes, had argued the facility would bring jobs and property tax and use about as much water as seven homes a year. "It pisses me off that we're using all this energy to create what?" resident Dave Deibler told the council. Cedar Falls Utilities' Viking Energy Center remains planned, and Simple Mining has proposed other Iowa sites, including one in Dubuque County, where the city has since imposed a one-year data center moratorium.

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.