Google pitches Palo on data center at lengthy town hall
Google presented plans for Project Meridian, a potential data center campus on about 550 acres near Palo and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Linn County. The project could include up to six buildings, use nuclear power and Cedar River water, and begin construction in 2027, pending annexation and other approvals.
Google publicly outlined plans for Project Meridian at a three-hour town hall in Palo, where more than 200 people attended. The proposed campus would occupy an approximately 550-acre site in unincorporated Linn County near the Duane Arnold Energy Center, with Google intending to seek annexation into Palo.
The company said the nuclear plant would provide the campus's anchor power supply and that a closed-loop evaporative cooling system would draw, treat, recirculate and discharge Cedar River water. Water use would be regulated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Google hopes to start construction in early 2027, with initial operations potentially beginning in 2028; the site could eventually accommodate as many as six data center buildings.