Markets / Iowa
C&W 2026 Americas · Tertiary #2 · updated 2026-11-05
Iowa (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids)
Contracted, energizing load at Alliant and MidAmerican plus cheap wind. The rural local moratorium count is the main risk.
heatingGrid: MidAmerican Energy (MISO), Alliant Energy/IPL (MISO)
Also top 10 in C&W grid-stability ranking [Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison (Americas rankings) (2026-05)]
Power and the queue
- Alliant has 3.4 GW of contracted data center demand (Google, Meta, QTS among them) and expects another 1 GW in six months. 2027-30 capex rose 19% to $15.9B. [DCD: Alliant Energy expects to sign 1GW of data center supply contracts in next six months (2026-11-02)]
- Cedar Rapids: Google's transmission service is energized, and QTS expects about 300 MW initial energization later in 2026 (Alliant Q2 call). [Alliant Energy Q2 2026 earnings call transcript (StockAnalysis) (2026-08)]
Notable projects owners where public
- Microsoft, West Des Moines: multiple campuses on MidAmerican (an aggregator lists ~444 MW Ginger East and ~207 MW Ginger West).uncertain [Clean Energy Districts of Iowa: Data centers in Iowa resource hub (aggregator) (2026-11-05)]
Regulatory posture incentives, moratoria, zoning, water, large-load rules
- Iowa added expiration dates to its data center tax exemptions (2025 HF976), and 50+ local moratoria are recorded statewide. [Moratorium Nation dataset (M. Bommarito, CC BY 4.0), current through Sep 23, 2026 (2026-09-23); Programs.com: Data Center Moratoriums by State tracker (2026) (2026-11-05)]
Pending legislation and actions 1 items
| Date | Jurisdiction | Item | Status | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| undated | City of Fairfax city | Proposed ordinance 'Imposing a Moratorium on High-Impact Data Centers and Amending the City Zoning Code to Establish Prohibited Use Classification' (Fairfax, Linn County)uncertain Duration: No end date: remains in effect unless modified or repealed by a subsequent ordinance | pending | medium | [City of Fairfax (via CBS2 Iowa)] |
In force / enacted 10 items
| Date | Jurisdiction | Item | Status | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-28 | City of Ames city | Ames City Council motion (4-2) of 2026-07-28 setting a nine-month pause/delay; not reported as a formal moratorium ordinanceuncertain Duration: About nine months, until May 1, 2027; may be lifted earlier or extended | in force | high | [Ames Voice (2026-07-29)] |
| 2026-07-01 | Linn County county | Board of Supervisors resolution imposing an 18-month moratorium on new applications to rezone property to the EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center Zoning District in unincorporated Linn County. 18-month pause on new EU-3 large-scale data-center rezoning applications, adopted notwithstanding the county's own permanent data-center ordinance already being in place. Duration: 18 months, effective through 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 1, 2028 Current | in force | high | [Resolution establishing a temporary moratorium (EU-3) (2026)] |
| 2026-05-26 | Madison County county | Two Board of Supervisors ordinances (data centers; battery storage systems) adopted 2026-05-26 with second and third readings waived, per KCCI; ordinance numbers not published in the coverage revieweduncertain Duration: 12 months (reported as two separate 12-month moratoriums, one for data centers and one for battery storage systems) | in force | high | [County supervisors pass moratorium on data centers (2026-05-26)] |
| 2026-05-18 | Iowa state | SSB3001 (2026) Includes division affecting tax increment treatment of school foundation tax on qualified data center property. | enacted | high | [Iowa Legislature - Bill History for SF 2472 (91st GA)] |
| 2026-04-16 | Iowa state | SSB3151 / HF2357 (2026) Technical and statutory corrections including data center cross-reference edits in tax code sections. | enacted | high | [Iowa Legislature - Bill History for HF 2357 (91st GA)] |
| 2025-11-06 | Johnson County county | Resolution No. 11-06-25-01 County is drafting permanent UDO standards on siting, noise, water use, and review process. As of July 22-23, 2026, Johnson County supervisors and the Planning and Zoning Commission were still discussing policy direction for a proposed data-center ordinance (d | in force | high | [Data center meeting includes talk of extending Johnson County’s moratorium (2026-07)] |
| 2025-06-17 | Story County county | Resolution #25-97 (adopted 2025-06-17); extended via Resolution #26-36 (adopted 2025-11-25) through 2026-03-31; further extended via Resolution #26-69 (adopted 2026-03-17) through 2027-03-31. The same Draft regulations were developed. On 2026-03-17 the Board adopted Ordinance No. 330 permanently regulating battery/energy storage and, the same day, extended the moratorium for digital asset mining, cryptocurrency operations and data processing centers to 2027 | in force | high | [Story County Resolution #26-69 (2026-03-17)] |
| 2025-06-06 | Iowa state | HF976 (2025) Revised data center and web search portal sales and use tax exemption and reporting mechanics, including limits on future exemption duration. | enacted | high | [Iowa Legislature - Bill History for HF 976 (91st GA)] |
| 2025-06-06 | Iowa state | SF657 (2025) Created the Business Incentives for Growth (BIG) program. The eligibility rules in the new Code section 15.504 require the business to be "primarily engaged in advanced manufacturing, bioscience, insurance and finance, or technology and innovation" and explici | enacted | high | [Iowa Legislature - Bill History for SF 657 (91st GA)] |
| 2026-06-02 | Iowa state | SSB3103 (2026) Amends economic development framework language referencing data center business eligibility exclusions in related programs. | enacted | medium | [Iowa Legislature - Bill History for SF 2301 (91st GA)] |
Pricing & supply snapshot directional
MW Desk estimate / directional range, Q4 2026
Not yet benchmarked. We have not published a directional colocation pricing or supply band for this market yet.
Ranges, when published, are indicative only and age quickly. Confirm with brokers and operators before acting.
TJ field notes
Coming soon: TJ's on-the-ground notes on this market. Expect what the queue really looks like, which sites can actually get power, and what the brokers aren't saying.
Slot reserved for TJ's detailed market report.