(Radio Iowa) -Linn County won’t change its 18 month data center moratorium to make an exception for projects tied to nuclear power. The exemption would have allowed Google to build a data center in unincorporated Linn County near the Duane Arnold nuclear plant during the 18 month period. The plant is undergoing federal review to be recommissioned. County planning director Charlie Nichols says data centers and nuclear are starting to pair up around the country.
But after public feedback, the Linn County board discovered opposition to data centers is stronger than support for nuclear, so they decided not to move forward with the carve out. Supervisor Brandy Meisheid led the effort to consider it.
But Meisheid says public feedback showed opposition to data centers was strong enough that she didn’t want to alter the moratorium. If Google wants to move forward with its project during the moratorium, it would have to request annexation into Palo city limits.
