In Linn County, Iowa, an 18-month freeze on new data centers may not be as absolute as it initially seemed. County officials are now considering whether a project linked to restarting a nuclear power plant should receive special treatment before the moratorium expires.
What’s happening?
Although the county barred data centers for 18 months across almost all zoning districts, leaders have continued to discuss a possible exception involving nuclear power, according to Radio Iowa, citing reporting from Iowa Public Radio reporter Eliza Billingham.
That question came before the Planning and Zoning Commission when Linn County Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols said the county board wanted to examine whether a facility linked to bringing a nuclear plant back online should be evaluated apart from other data center proposals.
“There is a moratorium on all data centers right now, but the board wanted to ask the question, do data centers that are supporting nuclear deserve extra consideration or is it important enough to bring those forward before the moratorium ends,” Nichols told the commission…