Google Council Bluffs
"Google's thirstiest data center drinks about a billion gallons of drinking water a year."
Polk County, IA
Source: Primary source
Google Council Bluffs is an operating data center in Polk County, IA, operated by Google LLC and ultimately owned by Alphabet Inc.. DataCentersExposed has documented 480 MW of reported power capacity and $36M in tracked tax abatements at this site.
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated Jun 21, 2026
Overview
source: linkGoogle's Council Bluffs campus is one of its oldest and largest, running in southwest Iowa since 2007 with more than $5 billion invested across roughly 3 million square feet. It is powered by MidAmerican Energy, and Google credits Iowa wind for a 95 percent carbon-free claim.
It is also Google's single thirstiest data center. By Google's own disclosure it used about 980 million gallons in 2023, with roughly a billion gallons consumed and permanently lost through evaporative cooling, making it the city water utility's largest customer. That is the equivalent of more than ten thousand people's annual water use, in a state increasingly worried about both water and the secrecy of these deals.
Iowa lets companies hide behind LLCs, so the public rarely sees which firm got which break, though Google's Council Bluffs incentives total more than $36 million. The dynamic turned confrontational nearby: when Linn County passed an ordinance requiring water-impact studies, Google moved in early 2026 to annex its land into a smaller town to avoid the rules, killing a promised regional water study.
Operator chain
- Ultimate parentAlphabet Inc.
- Files asGoogle LLC
- This facilityGoogle Council Bluffs
The grid behind this site, right now
source: MISO · gridstatus- Natural Gas33.4%
- Coal28.2%
- Solar13.1%
- Imports11.0%
- Nuclear9.7%
- Other3.0%
- Wind1.6%
Real-time generation mix for the MISO grid this site draws from, as of Jul 15, 2026, 9:20 PM. ISO-wide, not this facility's own metering. Source: gridstatus.
Grid & water — why here
source: HIFLD · EPAThe closest existing grid infrastructure and the municipal water system this location sits in — the same constraints the buildout model screens on (it won't site a campus more than ~2 km from a substation or ~5 km from municipal water). Distances are straight-line to public HIFLD/EPA features, not a metered connection.
In the news
source: GDELT- Clinton City Council rejects data center moratorium - WQADWQAD· Jun 10, 2026
- City Council turns down temporary halt on AI data centers in Clinton - KWQCKWQC· Jun 9, 2026
- Palo City Council delays vote on proposed data center ordinance - KWWLKWWL· Jun 8, 2026
- Palo City Council advances data center zoning ordinance despite pushback from residents - Iowa Public RadioIowa Public Radio· Jun 2, 2026
- Palo city council advances Google data center ordinance - KCRGKCRG· Jun 1, 2026
- Palo City Council to discuss a data center ordinance - KCRGKCRG· Jun 1, 2026
Tax breaks & subsidies
source: Good Jobs First / GASB 77- Council Bluffs data center incentivesTax break$36,000,000Council Bluffs / Pottawattamie County, IA · granted — · term — yr · source
Water use
- Reported consumption2.7M gpd2023 · consumption · reported as “Google Council Bluffs” · source
EPA permits & violations
source: EPA ECHONo reported violations as of last sync.
Air quality near this site
source: AirNowAir Quality Index from the nearest AirNow reporting area (Des Moines), as of 2026-06-10. Regional context — not this facility's own emissions.
Who lives nearby
source: Census ACS 2023Demographics of the census tract this facility sits in (American Community Survey 5-year estimates). Environmental-justice context for who bears the local impacts.
Nearest school
source: HIFLD / NCESThe nearest public school, Stowe Elementary School in Des Moines, is 0.4 mi from this site (313 students). 2 public schools sit within a mile of the site.
Schools are sensitive receptors for the noise, backup-generator exhaust, and traffic a large data center brings. Straight-line distance to the nearest public school (HIFLD/NCES, US public schools only).
Hearings timeline
No public-hearing records linked to this site yet. We surface planning-commission and board-of-supervisors dates when a record names a facility. If you know of a hearing on this site, tell us.