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.
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.
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 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 company that owns the only nuclear power plant in Iowa — located near Palo — indicated Friday it has moved to restore the site’s operating license.
Ever since she bought the former Chicago Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way in 1994, Karla Sibert has had the idea for “A Lil’ R&R.” Now, 30 years later, it’s a reality.
The man who was pulled from the fire and a firefighter who was injured fighting the blaze were taken to the hospital. Firefighters rescued and revived one dog who’d been in the house, and another dog died in the fire.
In a company earnings call Wednesday, NextEra’s CEO said the company is seeing strong interest from data center customers, and it’s conducting engineering studies and talking to regulators to determine whether the Duane Arnold nuclear plant can be reopened.
A Palo man arrested this weekend after an 8-year-old boy was found with serious burns at a Palo park is also facing a previous assault charge after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend in June.
A judge has ruled against Palo-area residents who filed a lawsuit last year opposing rezoning to allow two industrial-scale solar projects to be built near the former Duane Arnold Energy Center.
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