Iowa data center moratoriums
As of 31 Oct 2026, we count at least 44 local data center pauses in force in Iowa, no bans and 5 proposals, across its counties and cities. At state level: checked, nothing found.
- 44 pauses in force · 0 bans · 5 proposed
- 2 pauses end within 60 days
- Checked: 99 counties, 534 cities · 49 on tracker
Cite this page
Source: Grounded Compute, Iowa moratorium tracker, 31 Oct 2026. https://groundedcompute.com/us/iowa/moratoriums
Every row below has its source and the date we checked it. For reporters: contact and corrections
State level · Checked, nothing found
We asked about state laws, orders and bills: checked, nothing found (31 Oct 2026).
Expiring by 30 Dec 2026
- 12 Nov 2026Dickinson CountyPausedickinsoncountyiowa.govGovernment confirmed
- 23 Nov 2026Marshalltown (city)Pausemarshalltown-ia.govGovernment confirmed
Moratorium map · counties
- Ban: 0 counties
- Pause (active or extended): 38 counties
- Pause proposed: 3 counties
- End date passed, no update found: 0 counties
- Ended, expired or none found: 47 counties
- No government or news source found: 11 counties
- City: ban
- City: pause
- City: pause proposed
- 99 counties checked · 31 Oct 2026
- Cities on the tracker drawn as dots (8)
- Schematic; outlines: US Census
Tracker · 49 bans, pauses and proposals
- Rows grouped under their count; each count matches the figures at the top
- 27 government confirmed · 22 news reported
- Ended pauses and no-pause checks: on the map only. We checked counties and cities; nothing found is not proof that none exists
- Method
| Jurisdiction | Status | Covers | End | Permanent rules | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pauses in force (44) | |||||
| Adair County | Pause | Other | – | Rules drafted | adaircounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Ames (city, Story) | Pause | All data centers | 1 May 2027 | – | amestrib.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Audubon County | Pause | Other | 1 May 2027 | – | auduboncountyia.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Boone County | Pause | Other | – | – | boonecounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Clarke County | Pause | Other | – | – | clarkecounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Des Moines County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | desmoinescounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Dickinson County | Pause | All data centers | 12 Nov 2026 | – | dickinsoncountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Dubuque (city, Dubuque) | Pause | Above a size threshold: Hyperscale data centers: facility exceeding 100,000 square feet, requiring more than 75 MW electrical demand, using 50 gallons per minute or more of water, or containing 5,000 or more server units | – | – | kwqc.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Dubuque County | Pause | Other: Applies to proposed large-scale industrial and/or hyperscale data-center developments in unincorporated areas; the cited source gives no numeric threshold. | – | Rules drafted | cbs2iowa.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Emmet County | Pause | Other | 26 Aug 2027 | – | radioiowa.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Floyd County | Pause | All data centers | 2 Mar 2027 | – | floydcoia.org Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Grundy County | Pause | Some zoning districts | – | – | grundycountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Guttenberg (city, Clayton) | Pause | All data centers | – | – | claytoncountyianews.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Henry County | Pause | Other | 31 Dec 2026 | – | mississippivalleypublishing.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Ida County | Pause | Other | – | Rules drafted | ktiv.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Iowa County | Pause | Other | 31 Jul 2027 | – | iowacounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Lee County | Pause | All data centers | – | Rules drafted | wgem.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Linn County | Pause | Above a size threshold: New applications to rezone property to the EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center Zoning District in unincorporated Linn County | 1 Jan 2028 | – | linncountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Louisa County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | mississippivalleypublishing.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Lucas County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | lucascounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Lyon County | Pause | – | – | Rules drafted | lyoncounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Madison County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | kcci.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Mahaska County | Pause | All data centers | – | Rules drafted | mahaskacountyia.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Marshall County | Pause | All data centers | 23 Mar 2027 | Rules drafted | timesrepublican.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Marshalltown (city, Marshall) | Pause | All data centers | 23 Nov 2026 | Rules drafted | marshalltown-ia.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Mitchell County | Pause | Other | 31 Dec 2026 | – | mitchellcounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| O'Brien County | Pause | All data centers | 31 Dec 2026 | – | northwestiowanow.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Page County | Pause | Other | – | – | kmaland.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Palo Alto County | Pause | All data centers | 8 Jul 2027 | – | paloaltocounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Plymouth County | Pause | Above a size threshold: Large-scale data centers; no numerical threshold stated | 16 Jun 2027 | – | klem1410.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Poweshiek County | Pause | Other: Facilities with a designed electrical load of 5 MW or more or a building footprint of 10,000 square feet or more | 27 Sep 2027 | – | poweshiekcountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Ringgold County | Pause | Other | – | – | ringgoldcounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Shelby County | Pause | Other | 1 Jul 2027 | – | shelbycounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Tama County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | tamacounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Taylor County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | taylorcounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Union County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | unioncountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Waterloo (city, Black Hawk) | Pause | All data centers | – | – | radioiowa.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Woodbury County | Pause | All data centers | – | – | woodburycountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Clayton County | Pause, extended | Other | 31 Dec 2026 | Rules drafted | claytoncountyianews.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Jackson County | Pause, extended | Other | 4 Aug 2027 | Rules drafted | jacksoncounty.iowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Johnson County | Pause, extended | All data centers | 8 Aug 2027 | – | kcrg.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Peosta (city, Dubuque) | Pause, extended | Other: The report describes a six-month moratorium that was extended another six months; it gives no facility-size threshold. The reported end date is June 18, 2027. | 18 Jun 2027 | Rules drafted | telegraphherald.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Sac County | Pause, extended | Other | 31 Dec 2026 | – | saccountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Story County | Pause, extended | All data centers | 31 Mar 2027 | Rules drafted | storycountyiowa.gov Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Proposed (5) | |||||
| Clay County | Pause proposed | All data centers | – | – | northwestiowanow.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Fort Madison (city, Lee) | Pause proposed | – | – | Rules drafted | mississippivalleypublishing.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Kossuth County | Pause proposed | – | – | – | algonaradio.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Mills County | Pause proposed | – | – | – | kmaland.com News reported Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
| Sioux City (city, Woodbury) | Pause proposed | – | – | – | sioux-city.org Government confirmed Checked 31 Oct 2026 |
– = not found in the sources we checked
Source: Grounded Compute, Iowa moratorium tracker, 31 Oct 2026. https://groundedcompute.com/us/iowa/moratoriums
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