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The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended to rezone land around the nuclear energy plant.

The move comes amid a surge in commercial interest in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Comments can also be submitted online to the Iowa Utilities Commission.

The Iowa Utilities Commission will hold a public information meeting about the proposed restart of the Duane Arnold nuclear plant at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Hawkeye Downs Expo Center in Cedar Rapids.

The growing number of data centers in Iowa and across the country speaks to spiking demands for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital services.

Tech giant Google plans to purchase energy from the Duane Arnold Energy Center as part of a larger 25-year agreement with the nuclear plant’s owner, NextEra energy.

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.