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# Iowa City Hits Pause on Data Centers
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/iowa-city-hits-pause-on-data-centers/
- Published: 2026-09-15T21:29:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T21:47:02.000Z
- Description: Waterloo officials approved a 90-day moratorium on new data centers.
- Author: Akshaya Krishnan
- Tags: #with-siderail, Iowa, Data Center, Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant, david morrow, Steve Schmitt, moratorium, Waterloo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2026 - Some Iowa cities are hitting pause on data centers.

Hours after the U.S. Department of Energy announced a nearly $2 billion loan to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center – a 615-megawatt nuclear plant near Palo, Iowa – the city of Waterloo joined a growing list of Iowa communities voting to temporarily block new data center projects. Palo is about 55 miles southeast of Waterloo.

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The Duane Arnold Energy Center is set to restart by early 2029, and it will power a proposed Google data center. 

The Waterloo City Council approved a three-month moratorium on data centers at its meeting on September 8\. Council member **David Morrow** says the pause will allow council members to properly regulate projects. 

“And three months, I understand, many people wanted it longer than that, but three months was what we could come to an agreement on,” Morrow said, as quoted in [an article](https://www.radioiowa.com/2026/09/09/waterloo-leaders-vote-to-block-data-centers-for-three-months/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) by Radio Iowa. 

The city council plans to vote to finalize a six-month pause on hyperscale projects at a future meeting. Residents have pushed for the measure since learning Waterloo approved an initial agreement with a data center developer on a 12-acre industrial site last December. 

Council member **Steve Schmitt** says the three-month moratorium will allow city leaders to pause before taking any next steps.

Dubuque is also moving toward adopting a data center moratorium. 

The moratorium takes effect immediately, leaving Waterloo’s data center pipeline on hold while the council works out longer-term rules.