Tech giant Google has approached Linn County officials about a proposed data center project near Palo. The county is taking several steps to inform discussions around how data centers could affect things like zoning, water availability.
Under a proposal headed to the Linn County Board of Supervisors, NextEra Energy would pay up to $104,000 in application fees to rezone the land around the Duane Arnold nuclear plant.
Iowa’s only nuclear plant could return — and with it, hundreds of high-wage jobs, a multi-year construction surge and new housing demand. Palo and Center Point businesses, union leaders and city officials say the economic ripple would be significant.
Linn County has officially adopted a nuclear energy ordinance — making it one of the only counties in the state with a nuclear-specific zoning code.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved NextEra Energy’s request for a waiver allowing the company to move forward with plans to recommission the shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Palo.
The Linn County Board of Supervisors has unanimously advanced a proposal to add nuclear energy generation to the county’s zoning code.
Public input on the matter will be accepted at the board’s next three meetings.
NextEra representatives, during a meeting with nuclear regulators Thursday, said the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, which closed in 2020, needs “a few major pieces of equipment” before it can restart, including cooling towers, the restoration of transmission lines, new offices, warehouse buildings and a new sewage treatment system.
The nation’s dwindling fleet of nuclear plants — including the shuttered Duane Arnold plant in Palo — is being seized upon as one of the most viable ways to quickly feed tech firms’ growing thirst for electricity to power the giant data centers needed for AI projects.
The commission unanimously approved the draft code at its Monday meeting. Now, it heads to the Board of Supervisors.
Linn County is seeking citizen feedback on its proposed nuclear zoning code ahead of next week’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
The task force would make recommendations about adding nuclear energy to Iowa’s energy portfolio.
Clean energy advocates say Iowa stands to lose jobs, manufacturing facilities, renewable energy project expansions and face more expensive utility bills if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill as is.
The company says the solar field near Palo is the largest in Iowa.
The Duane Arnold Energy Center’s nuclear reactor might be active again in 2028, potentially making it the third ever decommissioned plant in the United States to resume operation.
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