By Kaitlyn Kuehl-Berns
At a recent Clayton County Board of Supervisors meeting, representatives from Allamakee-Clayton Electric discussed potential data mining projects looking to locate in Clayton County.
Representatives outlined several potential benefits, noting that increased energy demand from data centers could help stabilize electric rates and may result in job creation, though employment levels would not be guaranteed. They also shared that similar data centers are being developed across Iowa and said feedback from other communities has been largely positive. Water usage concerns were addressed, with representatives explaining the proposed projects would utilize a closed-loop cooling system.
Currently, there is a moratorium on the issuance of rezoning requests and/or conditional use permits for digital asset mining and data centers. A moratorium is a temporary pause on an activity that allows officials time to study potential impacts, review policies and update regulations before allowing new applications to move forward.
The moratorium was originally approved through a resolution at a board of supervisors meeting in February. Set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025, the supervisors, at their Dec. 2 meeting, approved extending the moratorium until Dec. 31, 2026.
Minutes from a planning and zoning board meeting in July show the county’s previous Health and Zoning Administrator, Patti Ruff, gave a presentation on data centers. Further action and research on the topic was paused after she resigned and the county was without an administrator.
Caytee Jones, who was hired as the new Clayton County Health and Zoning Administrator this past fall, and Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Doug Puffet were present at the meeting to share potential concerns and plans for researching the topic further to develop a policy.
During discussion on the moratorium, county officials and planning representatives raised potential concerns, including noise, visual impact, water use, effects on surrounding properties and how local services such as fire protection might be impacted. Questions were also raised about taxable value if temporary or trailer-based structures were used.
