Graded Light and tightening. 15 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No connection, own-power or reliability rule in force; HF 2447's tariff-before-construction requirement failed in 2026.
No large-load tariff or rate class; Alliant's confidential QTS agreements were still awaiting commission review as of Sept 2026.
More than 40 local moratoria (tracker of 22 Oct 2026) include Linn County to 1 Jan 2028 and Johnson to 8 Aug 2027, but Council Bluffs and Polk stay open.
HF 976, signed 6 June 2025, caps the electricity and backup fuel exemption at 10 or 15 years for new $200 million projects and adds registration.
HF 976 adds annual reporting to keep the exemption, but no water, energy or NDA rule passed; HF 2447 failed in 2026.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Iowa still offers sales and property tax exemptions for data centers, but a 2025 law (HF 976) limits the electricity and backup fuel exemptions for new or expanded large centers to 10 or 15 years and adds registration and annual reporting. Bills in 2026 to require a separate data center rate class and water and energy reporting did not pass, and there is still no statewide large-load tariff; Alliant is instead seeking Iowa Utilities Commission review of confidential individual rate agreements for the QTS campus in Cedar Rapids. The pushback is local and growing: a tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists more than 40 Iowa counties and cities with moratoria in force, including Linn County's 18-month pause adopted in July 2026, one-year pauses in Sioux and Emmet counties, Dubuque's six-month hyperscale pause of 21 September 2026 and Waterloo's 90-day pause of 8 September 2026.
Johnson County extended its moratorium to 8 August 2027 on 15 October 2026, Linn County's runs to 1 January 2028 unless the board shortens or extends it, and Story County's now runs to 31 March 2027. Waterloo's council plans a further vote on a six-month pause on hyperscale projects, and Dubuque County is studying a countywide ban. The commission has yet to rule on Alliant's confidential QTS rate agreements or its certificate application for the Morgan Valley gas plant. Rate class and reporting bills are likely to return in the 2027 session, and Republican governor nominee Zach Lahn proposed a temporary statewide pause on new data center projects on 24 August 2026 ahead of the 3 November election.
No statewide moratorium, but 10 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Asbury (Dubuque County), Dubuque (city), Dubuque County, Emmet County, Johnson County, Linn County and elsewhere. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Iowa is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. State tax breaks intact; some 40 Iowa counties and cities now pause data centers. The outlook above says what is pending.
Iowa sits in MISO and SPP. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Iowa has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: HF 976: time limits on electricity and fuel exemptions.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Iowa scores grid connection 1, power rates 1, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 3, permits and water 2, a mean of 2.0. The most regulated line is tax treatment: HF 976, signed 6 June 2025, caps the electricity and backup fuel exemption at 10 or 15 years for new $200 million projects and adds registration.
15 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
On 15 October 2026 the Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 to extend the county's one-year moratorium, first adopted in November 2025 and due to expire in November 2026, to 8 August 2027 so planning staff can finish a data center ordinance.
Source: kcrg.comA national tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists more than 40 Iowa local moratoria in force, including Story County (extended to 31 March 2027), Clayton County (through 31 December 2026), Adams County (24 months from June 2026), Shelby County (through July 2027), Palo Alto County (through 8 July 2027), Poweshiek County (one year from 28 September 2026), Marshall County (six months from 23 September 2026) and Peosta (extended to 18 June 2027). Council Bluffs and Salix rejected moratoria.
Source: programs.comThe City Council adopted a three-month moratorium on new data centers on 8 September 2026, effective immediately, and plans a later vote on a six-month pause on hyperscale projects. Dubuque was reported to be moving toward a moratorium of its own.
Source: broadbandbreakfast.comThe City Council approved a six-month moratorium on 21 September 2026 covering any facility over 100,000 square feet, over 75 MW of demand, 50 or more gallons per minute of water, or 5,000 or more servers. It holds applications and utility requests while staff study water, energy and infrastructure impacts and draft permanent standards; the council can extend it. A 2025 city survey of 3,777 residents found 76 percent opposed to a data center.
Source: kcrg.comAs reported on 10 September 2026, Alliant has asked the Iowa Utilities Commission to review individual rate agreements with QTS for its Cedar Rapids data center, with terms kept confidential, and has applied for a certificate for the Morgan Valley gas plant, one of three planned gas peaking plants. Iowa Business for Clean Energy called for more public scrutiny of who pays; Alliant says it has 3.4 GW of contracted data center demand and a five-year base rate freeze. No commission decision was reported.
Source: newsfromthestates.comThe county approved a one-year moratorium on data centers, reported 25 August 2026.
Source: ktiv.comOn 24 August 2026 Zach Lahn, the Republican candidate for governor, proposed a temporary pause on new data center projects so the state can set rules and require developers to show benefits to Iowans. He called it a pause rather than a ban and gave no end mechanism. The election is 3 November 2026.
Source: kcrg.comThe Board of Supervisors voted 2 to 1 on 1 July 2026 to pause rezoning applications to the EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center district in unincorporated Linn County for 18 months, to 1 January 2028, while it revises the data center ordinance it adopted in February 2026. The board can shorten or extend the pause; cities inside the county are not covered.
Source: linncountyiowa.govThe City Council voted unanimously on 14 July 2026 for a 180-day moratorium, effective immediately, to study impacts and draft a permanent ordinance.
Source: kcrg.comThe county in northwest Iowa placed a one-year moratorium on data centers, reported 23 June 2026.
Source: ktiv.comThe Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on 23 June 2026 to pause new data centers in unincorporated areas for one year. The report counted at least eight Iowa counties with temporary restrictions at that point, including Johnson, Dubuque, Madison, Plymouth, Shelby, Adair and Clarke.
Source: cbs2iowa.comThe Board of Supervisors voted 2 to 1 on 26 May 2026 for a 12-month moratorium on data centers in the county, lengthened from a proposed 120 days. In July the board moved to hire a consultant to study a countywide ban.
Source: kcrg.comWould have required utilities to create a data center rate class and data centers to report energy and water use. It did not advance out of committee in the 2026 session.
Source: mwalliance.orgWould have required quarterly water and energy reports, a separate data center tariff, and no construction or expansion until the serving utility had filed that tariff. It cleared a House subcommittee in February 2026 but was not enacted.
Source: iowapublicradio.orgSigned 6 June 2025. For projects of $200 million or more, the sales tax exemption on electricity and backup fuel is capped at the first 10 years in cities over 30,000 people and 15 years elsewhere; centers operating before that date keep it without limit. Large centers must register and report annually, with new exemption certificates used from 1 February 2026.
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