Data center restrictions tracker · Iowa

Data center moratoriums and restrictions in Iowa (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

As of August 15, 2026, this tracker documents 35 local government actions on data centers in Iowa, across 32 jurisdictions in 28 counties: 32 moratoria and 3 zoning exclusions. By status: 27 in force, 5 enacted, 2 expired, and 1 replaced.

There is no statewide restriction, incentive rollback, or large-load tariff on record for Iowa in this snapshot.

Data centers in Iowa used about 7.9 TWh of electricity in 2024; EPRI, Powering Intelligence 2026 (state-level dashboard) projects 17.0 TWh in its 2030, EPRI medium scenario.

Local actions in Iowa

Every documented local action in Iowa in the August 15, 2026 snapshot. Documented actions, not a census.
JurisdictionCountyActionStatusDate
Palo Alto CountyPalo Alto CountyMoratoriumin forceJuly 8, 2026
Linn CountyLinn CountyMoratoriumin forceJuly 1, 2026
Linn County Board of SupervisorsLinn CountyMoratoriumenactedJuly 1, 2026
Ida CountyIda CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 30, 2026
PeostaDubuque CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 23, 2026
Woodbury CountyWoodbury CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 23, 2026
Woodbury County Board of SupervisorsWoodbury CountyMoratoriumenactedJune 23, 2026
Lee CountyLee CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 16, 2026
Plymouth CountyPlymouth CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 16, 2026
Sioux CountySioux CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 16, 2026
PaloLinn CountyZoning exclusionenactedJune 15, 2026
Cedar CountyCedar CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 26, 2026
Dubuque CountyDubuque CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 26, 2026
Des Moines CountyDes Moines CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 19, 2026
Henry CountyHenry CountyMoratoriumenactedMay 14, 2026
Dickinson CountyDickinson CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 12, 2026
Taylor CountyTaylor CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 7, 2026
Audubon CountyAudubon CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 5, 2026
Madison CountyMadison CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 2026
Franklin CountyFranklin CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 31, 2026
Union CountyUnion CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 25, 2026
Adair CountyAdair CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 18, 2026
Shelby CountyShelby CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 17, 2026
Linn CountyLinn CountyZoning exclusionenactedMarch 1, 2026
Clinton CountyClinton CountyMoratoriumin forceDecember 8, 2025
Mitchell CountyMitchell CountyMoratoriumin forceNovember 25, 2025
Tama CountyTama CountyMoratoriumin forceNovember 10, 2025
Johnson CountyJohnson CountyMoratoriumin forceNovember 6, 2025
Clarke CountyClarke CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 23, 2025
Story CountyStory CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 17, 2025
Jones CountyJones CountyMoratoriumexpiredMay 13, 2025
Clayton CountyClayton CountyMoratoriumin forceFebruary 25, 2025
Jones CountyJones CountyMoratoriumreplacedOctober 15, 2024
Jackson CountyJackson CountyMoratoriumexpiredSeptember 17, 2024
Adair CountyAdair CountyZoning exclusionin forceApril 24, 2024

What one campus pays a local government

The parent piece's calculator puts a single large campus at $2M to $90M a year in local revenue, depending on the tax regime and abatements. The reference campus (Project Blue scale: $3.6B of capital, 286 MW) pays about $157M to local governments over 10 years. Permanent jobs run around 50 per facility.

Tax regimeReference caseAnnual local revenue, lowAnnual local revenue, high
Aggressive abatementMorrow County OR (enterprise zone)$2M$3M
Partial abatementGeorgia audit representative campus / El Paso Meta$27.8M$56M
Unabated equipment taxVirginia-style rates (Loudoun is the ceiling)$50M$90M

Run your own numbers in the calculator on the parent piece. Jurisdictions in Iowa that say no give up this revenue, not the jobs.

Sources

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