Applied Digital Adair data center, near Adair, Iowa

Applied Digital proposed a 200-megawatt data center in 2024 for the 1200 block of Fallow Avenue near Adair, Iowa, next to a NextEra Energy substation, but at a September 23, 2026 hearing Adair County supervisors said no developer has approached the county with plans to build one. The county is instead writing its own data center ordinance, with the next public hearing set for October 14 at 9:15 a.m.

Draft Ordinance #41 would keep data centers at least 1,000 feet from property lines and 2,600 feet from occupied homes, set noise standards, and require permanent foundations and decommissioning plans for any data center or cryptocurrency mine built in unincorporated Adair County. Supervisor Jodie Hoadley, who presented the draft, said it "would not keep developers out" but would set restrictions to deal with environmental and quality-of-life concerns.

The fight began in April 2024, when Applied Digital's Nick Phillips and Lance Cummins told supervisors they hoped to start construction that summer or fall, before Adair County had any zoning ordinance covering data centers. Residents pushed back over the unknowns, and the board passed a first ordinance setting setbacks of 300 feet from property lines and 1,200 feet from homes; the 2026 draft more than doubles the home setback.

Adair County adopted a moratorium on data centers on April 18, 2026 while it drafts final rules, and Hoadley has shared the ordinance draft with neighboring Union and Madison counties, which are working on similar rules of their own; she said Union County plans its own moratorium. The Board of Supervisors decides whether Ordinance #41 is adopted, and its next hearing is October 14, 2026.