Polk County, Iowa
DataCentersExposed tracks 11 AI data centers in Polk County, Iowa — 4 operating and 1 in the pipeline, drawing 1.6 GW of reported power demand, led by Meta Platforms, Inc.. Its transparent data-center risk score is 0/100.
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated May 29, 2026
- Project exposure · 33
- Power demand · 55
- Water draw · n/a
- Land footprint · n/a
What's happening in Polk County
Facilities here with disclosed capacity draw 1.6 GW from the local grid. Data-center load on this scale is the single biggest driver of recent capacity-market price increases — costs that flow through to every ratepayer in the service territory, not just the operators.
Meta Platforms, Inc. has the largest presence in Polk County. We resolve project codenames and shell LLCs back to the corporate parent wherever the public record allows, so the table below names who is actually behind each site.
Below: every tracked facility in the county, the active state legislation that names it or its county, and local news. Commissioner vote records arrive in a later release; the placeholders show where that accountability data will land.
2035 Buildout Outlook
Under the model's moderate-growth scenario (5%/yr annual load growth), PNNL's IM3 model sites about 9 standardized 36 MW campuses in Polk County by 2035 — roughly 324 MW of new electricity demand and ~313 M gal/yr of cooling water. Under the higher-growth scenario (15%/yr) that climbs to 37 campuses (1.3 GW). For scale, we currently track 11 real data centers in Polk County (1.6 GW of reported power).
- Low growth5180 MW · ~174 M gal/yr cooling water
- Moderate growth9324 MW · ~313 M gal/yr cooling water
- High growth20720 MW · ~696 M gal/yr cooling water
- Higher growth371.3 GW · ~1.3 billion gal/yr cooling water
The model assigns ~100% of these campuses' cooling to evaporative water cooling in Polk County (the rest to mechanical/air cooling), a split it derives from local water stress and wet-bulb temperature.
These are modeled candidate sites, not announced or permitted facilities. PNNL's IM3 model places identical 36 MW unit-campuses at feasible locations under each scenario — it shows where demand could concentrate, never a specific parcel. Figures use a market-gravity weight of 50. How the model works.
Every tracked facility
| Facility | Operator | Status | MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edged DSM01-1 Data Center Ankeny | — | Under construction | 13 |
| Meta Altoona Altoona | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | 540 |
| Google Council Bluffs | Alphabet Inc. | 480 | |
| Microsoft West Des Moines West Des Moines | Microsoft Corporation | Mapped (unverified) | 360 |
| Microsoft | Microsoft Corporation | Mapped (unverified) | 200 |
| Aureon Des Moines | — | — | |
| Facebook Altoona Data Center 2 | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — |
| Facebook Altoona Data Center 5 | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — |
| Lightedge Des Moines 1 Altoona | — | — | |
| Lightedge Des Moines 2 Altoona | — | — | |
| Meta | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — |
County commissioners
How the Polk County board votes on each data-center matter — the rezonings, the abatements, the water permits — is built from public-meeting minutes and roll-call records. Know of a vote we should be tracking? Tell us.