The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas and will hold public meetings starting this summer to develop an ordinance for future projects.
“All those in favor say ‘aye,” Woodbury County Chairman Mark Nelson said at their meeting Tuesday. “It passes 5-0.”
The action comes after the town of Salix annexed about 900 acres of farmland in April. Earlier this month, MidAmerican Energy confirmed the site is being considered for a future data center, though the company said it's still seeking a customer to purchase the land and develop the project.
The board's vote also follows other communities around the state that have passed measures to temporarily block data center development, including in Johnson, Dubuque and Madison counties.
Data center debate
Several residents attended the meeting, with many urging county leaders to enact the ban until regulations can be put in place.
Steve Corey, who lives near the proposed site, said data centers belong in industrial areas.
“But this is agricultural land. This is a small community, and the people that live down there really do live there for that reason,” Corey said. “The people who are going to be most impacted, where it's going to be built literally right across the road from them. There's no recovery from that for them.”
Others raised concerns about property values, water usage and negative impact on the environment.
“I hope that public officials in counties, in small communities, defend the people and do not get any data centers in here,” Sioux City resident Maria Rundquist said.
Not everyone opposed the project.
Dean Bradham, a union member of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 33, argued data centers bring jobs, tax revenue and growth.
“This is opportunity. This is the future,” Bradham said. “We can either be on the train or we can be left behind, and it just feels like Woodbury is just so quick to jump on the train to block any good thing that happens around here.”
State Sen. Kevin Alons, R-Salix, also addressed supervisors, saying there has been a lack of transparency and that MidAmerican has avoided giving out details about the potential project’s size and scope.
“They really evaded those questions — they didn’t give an answer,” Alons said. “I appreciate you taking this topic on. You're setting a target in the future, like let's have a discussion, let's come up with some guidelines.”
County Supervisor Matthew Ung called Alon's comments “chilling.”
“If MidAmerica is evading answering questions, for a state senator that serves our area, that doesn’t bode very well,” Ung added. “I would invite the public to view [the moratorium] as an olive branch.”
Ung said the moratorium is part of a broader regional response. He noted that Plymouth and Sioux counties recently passed similar measures while developing their own data center regulations.
“Even though this isn't about Salix, and it can't affect incorporated areas of cities, all three counties are passing moratoriums in response to what one city did,” Ung said.
Communities in other parts of the state have taken similar steps, including Johnson, Madison and Dubuque counties.
During a Woodbury County board meeting on June 16, Ung asserted that even if no laws were broken, the spirit of transparency was not upheld.
Salix Mayor Kevin Nelson declined to comment on the moratorium. He previously told reporters the community of about 300 followed state law through the annexation process. Salix would still need to rezone the property in order to accommodate a data center.
MidAmerican Energy’s response
In a statement, MidAmerican spokesperson Geoff Greenwood noted that the Salix site is within city limits and therefore would not be affected by the county’s moratorium.
Greenwood added that the company supports responsible data center development and has helped facilitate 36 data center projects across its service area since 2007, creating jobs, infrastructure investment, tax revenue and economic growth.
