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Data centers · Linn County, Iowa

Linn County

3 projects on record · 1 moratorium or ban action

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Projects in Linn County
Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center)Google—Under constructionDec. 2, 2025Under 50 MW
Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo)Google—ProposedJuly 20, 2026Under 50 MW
QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center)QTS Data Centers—Under constructionDec. 2, 202550 MW+

Moratoriums and bans

  1. July 1, 2026 Linn County: Moratorium. 18-month pause on new applications to rezone land into the county's EU-3 large data center district, which in practice blocks new data centers in unincorporated areas until Jan. 1, 2028; passed 2-1, months after the county adopted its data center ordinance. (Linn County, Iowa, July 21, 2026; KCRG, July 1, 2026)

Updates, newest first

  1. July 20, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Palo adopted the ordinance; the mayor said the city would consider annexation only if Google or the county asks. (Iowa Public Radio, July 21, 2026)
  2. July 13, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Palo City Council approved the second reading of its data center zoning ordinance 4-1 before a crowd mostly opposed to the project. (Corridor Business Journal, July 14, 2026; KCRG, July 14, 2026)
  3. July 1, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Linn County supervisors voted 2-1 for an 18-month pause on new EU-3 rezoning applications, and asked staff to study allowing data centers as accessories to the nuclear plant. (KCRG, July 1, 2026; Iowa Public Radio, July 21, 2026)
  4. July 1, 2026 Linn County: Moratorium · 18-month pause on new applications to rezone land into the county's EU-3 large data center district, which in practice blocks new data centers in unincorporated areas until Jan. 1, 2028; passed 2-1, months after the county adopted its data center ordinance. (Linn County, Iowa, July 21, 2026; KCRG, July 1, 2026)
  5. June 18, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · The Iowa Utilities Commission granted NextEra a generating certificate to restart the 615 MW Duane Arnold plant; federal approvals are still pending. (Corridor Business Journal, June 18, 2026)
  6. April 17, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · County records showed Google had offered $1 million per building per year and the county asked for more than $3 million per building. (KCRG, April 17, 2026)
  7. April 14, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Records obtained by KCRG showed Google and Palo officials met on Jan. 28 and that Google had been paying the city's legal costs since December. (KCRG, April 14, 2026)
  8. March 4, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · County supervisors said Google would seek annexation into Palo instead of working under county rules. (KWWL, March 4, 2026)
  9. Feb. 18, 2026 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Linn County adopted its data center ordinance, creating an EU-3 large-scale data center zoning district; a supervisor said a project would need an independent study of the resources it would use. (Linn County, Iowa, July 21, 2026; Corridor Business Journal, July 14, 2026; KWWL, March 4, 2026)
  10. Dec. 2, 2025 QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Council unanimously approved an amended agreement allowing up to seven phases, each with a separate building owner and at least 15 jobs; city staff put expected investment near $1.75 billion. (The Gazette, Dec. 2, 2025)
  11. Dec. 2, 2025 Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · The Gazette reported construction under way on Google's campus at Big Cedar. (The Gazette, Dec. 2, 2025)
  12. Oct. 21, 2025 QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Construction crews marked the topping out of the first building. (The Gazette, Dec. 2, 2025)
  13. Oct. 6, 2025 Google data center near Duane Arnold (Palo) · Linn County supervisors disclosed Google's interest in building up to six data centers near the plant; the county called it the first data center it had considered. (DatacenterDynamics, Oct. 7, 2025; Linn County, Iowa, July 21, 2026)
  14. June 2, 2025 Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Google announced $7 billion more for Iowa over two years, including the new Cedar Rapids campus and a Council Bluffs expansion. (DatacenterDynamics, June 2, 2025; Google (company page), Oct. 20, 2026)
  15. Feb. 12, 2025 QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · The city and Alliant Energy publicly named QTS as the developer, calling it the largest economic development investment in the city's history. (Corridor Business Journal, Feb. 12, 2025)
  16. Jan. 28, 2025 QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Cedar Rapids City Council approved a development agreement with QTS Cedar Rapids LLC requiring at least $750 million of investment in two or more phases. (Corridor Business Journal, Feb. 12, 2025; Data Center Frontier, March 3, 2025)
  17. March 22, 2024 Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · The IEDA board approved the High Quality Jobs property tax exemption for Google's $576 million, 31-job project. (Iowa Economic Development Authority, March 22, 2024)
  18. March 21, 2024 Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · The city announced that Google was the company behind the project ahead of a state incentive vote. (City of Cedar Rapids, March 21, 2024)
  19. Feb. 27, 2024 Google Cedar Rapids data center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Cedar Rapids City Council unanimously approved an agreement with Heaviside LLC for a $576 million data center without naming the company behind it. (The Gazette, Feb. 27, 2024)

Statewide

Iowa exempts qualifying data center purchases (servers, equipment and, for large centers, electricity and backup fuel) from state sales and use tax under Iowa Code 423.3(95) for centers that invest at least $200 million at an Iowa location within six years, have at least 5,000 square feet and meet state sustainable design standards. (Iowa Department of Revenue, Oct. 20, 2026) House File 976, signed June 6, 2025, put time limits on the electricity and backup fuel exemption for large data centers built or expanded after that date: 10 years in cities over 30,000 people and 15 years in smaller places; centers operating before then keep it without end. (Iowa Legislature, Oct. 20, 2026; Nyemaster Goode, June 9, 2025) House File 2690 (formerly HF 2447), on data center water and energy reporting and tariff requirements, passed the House Commerce Committee 23-0 in February 2026 and was placed on the House calendar, but no floor vote is recorded. (Iowa Legislature, Oct. 20, 2026) The Iowa Utilities Commission granted NextEra a generating certificate on June 18, 2026 to restart the 615 MW Duane Arnold nuclear plant near Palo, most of whose power Google has agreed to buy under a 25-year agreement; federal approvals are still pending. (Corridor Business Journal, June 18, 2026) Utility large-load tariffs for data centers (MidAmerican Energy, Interstate Power and Light) at the Iowa Utilities Commission: not yet checked. () Iowa data centers →