Sioux County data ordinance passes first reading
The Sioux County Board of Supervisors approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance regulating data centers by a 4-1 vote. The rules would cap sites at 25 megawatts, restrict cooling-water wells, require environmental, noise, electricity and water studies, and impose road, community-benefit and decommissioning requirements.
The Sioux County Board of Supervisors in Orange City, Iowa, advanced a proposed data center ordinance on a 4-1 first-reading vote. Supervisors John Degen, Craig Hoftyzer, Jerry Muilenburg and Carl Vande Weerd supported the measure, while Dan Altena opposed it, saying the county should wait to see how other Iowa counties respond. Additional readings and public hearings are scheduled for Oct. 13 and Oct. 27.
County Zoning Director Shane Walter said the ordinance would impose strict conditions on any future data center in the county’s unincorporated areas, including a 25-megawatt site limit, independent studies of electricity, water, noise and environmental impacts, conditional-use and building permits, periodic compliance testing, road improvements and a decommissioning plan. Cooling water could not come from a private well, and the former Bison Renewable Energy plant site near Perkins Corner is currently the only location identified as a potential site. If the ordinance is ultimately adopted, the existing moratorium would be lifted.