Data centers in Iowa: What is Bohannan’s plan?
Democratic congressional candidate Christina Bohannan says Iowa communities should have the final say over data center development, especially when projects face local opposition or increase pressure on water and electricity supplies. She also proposes utility reforms and clean-energy investments to reduce household energy costs, while the article examines special rates offered to large data center customers by Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy.
Christina Bohannan, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 1st District, said communities should be able to reject data centers and criticized elected officials who support tax breaks and looser siting rules for the projects. Speaking in Maquoketa, Bohannan argued that data centers can increase electricity demand, raise costs and strain local water and power resources.
The article also examines Iowa’s utility rate structure. Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy serve most of the state’s largest existing and proposed data centers, while the Iowa Utilities Commission allows special rates for large new customers. Alliant says those agreements make data centers pay the cost of serving them, but Iowa Business for Clean Energy argues confidential deals could encourage unnecessary gas-plant construction and shift costs to households.