Ida County data center proposal: Path One presents plans, urges strong county rules

IDA GROVE, Iowa (KTIV) - PathOne Data Centers presented early plans on Tuesday morning to the Ida County Board of Supervisors for possible small-scale data centers in the county. Residents, landowners and county leaders gathered to weigh in and ask questions relating to whether a facility belongs in the area.

The company described a proposed facility ranging from 10-25 megawatts, with an estimated cost of $100 million to $150 million. The footprint would span 5 to 25 acres with a 40,000-square-foot building. Path One said the facility would use a closed-loop water system consuming between 350,000 and 700,000 gallons annually, and that noise levels would remain at or below 55 decibels at the property line.

It started with a moratorium

The Ida County Board of Supervisors placed a moratorium on data center development on June 30 after learning in mid-June that companies were researching potential sites in the county. The board voted unanimously to pause activity so it could gather more information.

Devlun Whiteing, chair of the Ida County Board of Supervisors, said a different company, not Path One, had already been in contact with local contractors and was moving toward a project before the moratorium stopped it. “To be clear, it was a different company that was kind of working and kind of doing some stuff,” Whiteing said. “Our moratorium actually stopped that project from moving.”

Whiteing said the board had been following data center controversies in nearby Woodbury and Plymouth counties, including the high-profile situation in Salix, and did not want to be caught without protections in place. “We didn’t have an ordinance in place for data centers, so we decided to put a moratorium in,” he said.

Within hours of the moratorium taking effect, Whiteing said, all three board members began receiving calls from power companies and developers interested in Ida County sites.

What Path One is proposing

Path One representative Gyles Uhlenhopp said the company is not proposing a specific project at this stage but is urging the county to establish firm regulations first.

“We’re actually not here at all to propose a project. We’re here to advocate to all of you to go build the best and strongest rules, period,” Uhlenhopp said.

Uhlenhopp described a data center as similar to a large warehouse filled with stacked computing equipment, used by banks, hospitals and other businesses to store information or run services.

Path One’s model focuses on smaller, ‘edge data centers’ facilities physically closer to the communities they serve, rather than large hyperscale campuses. Uhlenhopp said hyperscale facilities can require 400 to 700 acres and hundreds of millions of gallons of water, and typically displace agricultural land.

“Our projects specifically pursue heavy industrial zone projects, not taking residential, not taking agricultural, but specifically focusing on previously industrial zoned areas,” Uhlenhopp said.

For water use, Uhlenhopp said Path One uses a patented closed-loop system that prevents water from re-entering the local ecosystem after entering the facility. He said a 10-megawatt facility would use 35,000 to 70,000 gallons of water per megawatt annually, and noted that the average movie theater uses between 2 million and 5 million gallons per year for comparison.

On noise, Uhlenhopp said the company requires reinforced sound barriers rather than relying on property setbacks alone, calling setbacks “not good enough.”

Path One makes recommendation for ordinance

Uhlenhopp outlined six categories of rules he said should be written into any Ida County data center ordinance:

• All construction and operations must receive county approval, no self-directed activity.
• Strict noise control with reinforced sound barriers required, not optional.
• Closed-loop water systems required to protect farmland and water supply.
• Developers must pay for any infrastructure damage, including roads.
• No local tax abatements: developers pay full property taxes.
• Community input through an advisory council open to all residents, including skeptics.

“Doing it right or not doing it at all. Period, full stop, end of conversation,” Uhlenhopp said.

Possible sites in Ida County

Whiteing said Path One has been looking at a couple of locations in the county, though no site has been selected. One location under discussion is the shuttered Quad County ethanol plant in Galva, which sits on commercially and industrially zoned land with existing electrical infrastructure.

“The electrical company up there has a power grid up there. It’s not being used. And I think that’s an attractive site for them because the power’s there already,” Whiteing said.

A site near an ethanol plant in Arthur was also discussed at the meeting, though no decisions have been made on either location.

Uhlenhopp said Path One had identified a potential power source in Ida County just before the moratorium was enacted.

“We have just identified a potential opportunity, identified some potential power, and then the moratorium happens,” he said. “So we’re like, okay, perfect. Let’s make sure these rules get written right so there’s not a bad actor that also comes into town and ruins it for everybody.”

Whiteing’s stance: moratorium stays until ordinance is in place

Whiteing said he has not taken a position for or against data centers but is firm that the moratorium will not be lifted until a strong ordinance is codified.

“These super mega data centers that are using millions of gallons of water a day to cool them, absolutely Ida County is not the place for them and they don’t belong in Ida County,” he said. “These smaller ones, I think there’s still a lot to learn.”

Whiteing said the county is also considering capping the maximum megawatt size of any data center allowed in the county, which he said would likely deter larger developers on its own. “If we cap the megawatts at 10 to 20 megawatts or 25 megawatts as a cap to the biggest data center that could go in Ida County, that’s going to stop a lot of people from even looking at Ida County,” he said.

He said the ordinance must address water usage, water studies, electrical usage, environmental impact, noise, stormwater runoff, zoning and setback requirements. “We’ve learned that we have to have a strong ordinance in Ida County to protect our county today and to protect our county from when my grandkids are sitting in a chair that I’m at today, that this county is protected, our water is protected, our electricity rates are protected,” Whiteing said.

Residents weigh in

Ida County resident Trey Rohlk, who said he has an IT background, attended the meeting to better understand the technical details of the proposal. He said PathOne’s openness to regulation stood out.

“They’re not trying to ram things through,” Rohlk said. “I think there’s still a lot of information to learn and citizens should have a good voice in what’s going to happen with this.”

Rohlk said he could support a smaller facility under the right conditions. “If it’s this size data center, I would not be opposed, but I think, yeah, the regulations and stuff have to be put in place to ensure they don’t go overboard,” he said.

What comes next

The county’s next steps include gathering public input, consulting legal counsel and drafting an ordinance. Whiteing said the board will weigh whether constituents see the project as a net benefit to the county before moving forward.

Path One is also launching a community advisory council open to any resident, including those opposed to the project. The council can be joined by following this link.

If Path One builds a facility, it would lease the space to end users such as banks, hospitals or co-location tenants. Uhlenhopp said the company cannot pursue a specific end user until a project is formally in place.

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