Data centers in Clinton County, Iowa: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

QTS is considering what could be Iowa's largest data center investment, on the edge of Clinton, a Mississippi River city. The company, already building in Cedar Rapids, is eyeing about 1,100 acres between Clinton Municipal Airport, Valley Oaks Golf Course, the Branden Hills neighborhood and U.S. Highway 30 for a campus that could cost $10 billion and hold two to 10 buildings. It has not filed a formal proposal. QTS says it will pay its own energy costs, is not seeking tax breaks, and that one of its 100-megawatt data centers uses about as much water as five homes.

Clinton is writing its first data center ordinance before any application arrives. About 100 residents have asked for more than the draft offers: mandatory well monitoring, noise and air-quality reporting, and "must" in place of "may" throughout. "A data center is not good for Clinton and nothing in this ordinance changes that," said Carol McGuire, a 40-year resident. The group Clintonians Against Data Centers backs a 1,500-foot setback the plan commission has suggested.

Grow Clinton, the local economic development group, backs the project and says the revenue could help fund a sports complex and trails. On September 1, the City Council spent five hours discussing the ordinance with the opposition's steering committee at the table. The council has not yet adopted the ordinance, and QTS has not filed an application, so the size and layout of the campus remain unsettled.

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.