Linn County seeks residents for new Data Center Advisory Committee
Linn County is accepting applications for a resident advisory committee that will help develop recommendations for regulating future large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas. The committee will operate during the county’s 18-month moratorium and examine energy, power grid, water, siting, planning and zoning issues before supervisors decide whether to update the zoning code.
Linn County is forming a 20- to 25-member Data Center Advisory Committee, with representatives from cities in the county and neighboring Benton and Johnson counties potentially expanding the group to about 40 members. The committee will meet six to eight times from December through June, with expert presentations and small-group discussions on electricity, grid capacity, water resources, siting, planning and zoning.
The committee’s work will produce recommendations for the Linn County Board of Supervisors rather than directly change county law. Supervisor officials said the guidance will inform a possible update to the zoning code while the county’s 18-month moratorium on new large-scale data centers remains in effect. John Lee, a resident near the proposed Morgan Valley Energy Center, described the personal burden of participating in a separate Iowa Utilities Commission process and said he was preparing more than 100 pages of testimony.