Brownfield & Retired Power Plant Sites in Iowa
62 catalogued brownfield and retired-generation sites in Iowa, listed by former capacity. Each carries an existing utility-scale grid interconnection that a new datacenter load may be able to re-use.
At a glance
What kinds of former sites are in Iowa?
By former use, the list includes 30 oil, 16 natural gas, 10 coal, 2 manufacturing, 2 brownfield, 2 landfill. Recorded retirement dates run from October 2000 to March 2024, with 27 retirements in 2015 or later. 52 of 62 sites with a measured distance sit within 2 miles of a transmission substation.
How does Iowa compare with other states?
Iowa ranks 8th of 50 states and DC by number of brownfield and retired-generation sites, out of 2,085 nationally. By recorded capacity (2,218 MW) it ranks 33rd, against 289,280 MW across all states. The state also has 2,572 scored datacenter candidate sites, 38 of them classed as brownfield sites, averaging 56.3 on the 0–100 DC Readiness scale.
Where in Iowa are these sites?
- Linn County · 9
- Story County · 4
- Muscatine County · 3
- Clinton County · 2
- Dubuque County · 2
- Poweshiek County · 2
- Marion County · 2
- Cedar County · 2
- Woodbury County · 1
- Allamakee County · 1
- Marshall County · 1
- Scott County · 1
- Pottawattamie County · 1
- Des Moines County · 1
- Appanoose County · 1
- Union County · 1
- Warren County · 1
- Henry County · 1
- Lee County · 1
- Adair County · 1
- Johnson County · 1
- BREMER County · 1
- Cass County · 1
- Iowa County · 1
All brownfield and retired plant sites in Iowa
| Site | Former use | Capacity | Retired | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Neal North | coal | 496 MW | 2016-04-01 | Woodbury |
| Lansing | coal | 341 MW | 2023-06-01 | Allamakee |
| Milton L Kapp | gas | 237 MW | 2018-06-01 | Clinton |
| Sutherland | gas | 157 MW | 2017-06-01 | Marshall |
| Riverside | gas | 141 MW | 2021-01-01 | Scott |
| Walter Scott Jr Energy Center | coal | 131 MW | 2015-03-01 | Pottawattamie |
| Dubuque | gas | 85 MW | 2017-06-01 | Dubuque |
| Sixth Street | coal | 85 MW | 2010-11-01 | Linn |
| Agency GT | gas | 79 MW | 2010-11-01 | Des Moines |
| Fair Station | coal | 63 MW | 2013-11-01 | Muscatine |
| Centerville | oil | 60 MW | 2017-11-01 | Appanoose |
| Grinnell | gas | 48 MW | 2017-08-01 | Poweshiek |
| Pella | coal | 38 MW | 2012-06-01 | Marion |
| Archer Daniels Midland Clinton | coal | 31 MW | 2008-10-01 | Clinton |
| Summit Lake | gas | 27 MW | 2021-01-01 | Union |
| Prairie Creek | coal | 23 MW | 2010-11-01 | Linn |
| Red Cedar | gas | 23 MW | 2018-06-01 | Linn |
| Muscatine Plant #1 | coal | 18 MW | 2024-03-01 | Muscatine |
| John Deere Dubuque Works | coal | 14 MW | 2010-11-01 | Dubuque |
| Indianola | oil | 13 MW | 2021-01-01 | Warren |
| Iowa State University | gas | 9 MW | 2021-07-01 | Story |
| Mt Pleasant | gas | 9 MW | 2002-01-01 | Henry |
| Alliant SBD 9402 Climax | oil | 8 MW | 2011-03-01 | Lee |
| Greenfield Light Plant | oil | 6 MW | 2018-12-01 | Adair |
| University of Iowa Main Power Plant | gas | 6 MW | 2020-05-01 | Johnson |
| Sumner | oil | 6 MW | 2021-02-01 | BREMER |
| Atlantic | oil | 5 MW | 2016-12-01 | Cass |
| Pella Peaking | oil | 4 MW | 2001-09-01 | Marion |
| West Dubuque Solar Garden | manufacturing | 4 MW | — | — |
| Alliant SBD 8601 Quad Graphics | oil | 4 MW | 2014-05-01 | Iowa |
| Alliant SBD 8501 Aegon LI | oil | 3 MW | 2021-06-01 | Linn |
| Brooklyn | oil | 3 MW | 2011-09-01 | Poweshiek |
| Lake Mills | oil | 3 MW | 2020-10-01 | Winnebago |
| Hopkinton | oil | 3 MW | 2011-05-01 | Delaware |
| Waverly Municipal Electric North Plant | gas | 3 MW | 2013-09-01 | Bremer |
| Tipton | gas | 3 MW | 2019-12-01 | Cedar |
| Algona | oil | 3 MW | 2002-06-01 | Kossuth |
| Gowrie | oil | 2 MW | 2013-05-01 | Webster |
| Alta Municipal Utilities | oil | 2 MW | 2021-04-01 | Buena Vista |
| Ames Diesel Generating Station | oil | 2 MW | 2008-07-01 | Story |
| Durant | oil | 2 MW | 2018-02-01 | Cedar |
| Estherville | oil | 2 MW | 2013-06-01 | Emmet |
| Metro Methane Recovery Facility | gas | 2 MW | — | Polk |
| Alliant SBD 9403 Aegon DC | oil | 2 MW | 2003-11-01 | Linn |
| Maquoketa 1 | gas | 1 MW | 2002-08-01 | Jackson |
| Corning | oil | 1 MW | 2006-03-01 | Adams |
| Alliant SBD 9302 Aegon NP | oil | 1 MW | 2021-11-01 | Linn |
| Primghar | oil | 1 MW | 2022-12-01 | O'Brien |
| Alliant SBD 9801 Aegon Martha's Way | oil | 1 MW | 2012-04-01 | Linn |
| La Porte | oil | 1 MW | 2013-12-01 | Black Hawk |
| Alliant SBD 9901 Wells Fargo | oil | 1 MW | 2020-12-01 | Linn |
| NCAH Central Utility Plant | gas | 1 MW | 2018-01-01 | Story |
| Strawberry Point | oil | 1 MW | 2001-07-01 | Clayton |
| Wilton | oil | 1 MW | 2001-11-01 | Muscatine |
| Alliant SBD 9702 Cedar Graphics | oil | 1 MW | 2007-12-01 | Linn |
| Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail Yard Company Solar | brownfield | 1 MW | — | — |
| Lake Park | oil | 1 MW | 2002-03-01 | Dickinson |
| Alliant SBD 8603 Donnelley | oil | 1 MW | 2000-10-01 | Story |
| Downtown Dubuque Solar Garden | manufacturing | 1 MW | — | — |
| Harriet Street Solar Field | landfill | 1 MW | — | — |
| Schaus-Vorhies Solar | brownfield | 1 MW | — | — |
| Marshall County Landfill Solar | landfill | 0 MW | — | — |
Frequently asked questions
How many retired power plants are in Iowa?
GridCensus lists 56 retired power plant sites in Iowa from EIA-860 retirement records. 55 have a recorded retirement date, 27 of them in 2015 or later.
What is the largest retired power plant or brownfield site in Iowa?
George Neal North in Sergeant Bluff is the largest by recorded capacity, at 496.2 MW. It is followed by Lansing (340.5 MW) and Milton L Kapp (237.3 MW).
Which power plant in Iowa retired most recently?
Muscatine Plant #1 has the latest recorded retirement date in the state, March 2024, with 18 MW of capacity.
Which county in Iowa has the most brownfield and retired plant sites?
Linn County has the most, with 9, followed by Story County with 4.
How many EPA brownfield sites in Iowa have completed cleanup?
6 of the 6 EPA-tracked sites listed for Iowa are recorded as cleanup complete.
Looking for a specific record? The directory lists every brownfield site, A to Z.
More on Iowa, and states with similar counts
- Datacenter candidate sites in Iowa· 2,572 sites
- Electric substations in Iowa· 104 named
- Brownfield candidate sites nationwide
- Brownfield sites by state
- Brownfield sites in Illinois· 68 sites
- Brownfield sites in Minnesota· 60 sites
- Brownfield sites in Florida· 90 sites
- Brownfield sites in Pennsylvania· 59 sites
About this data
Source: EIA-860 retired generating units and EPA RE-Powering America's Land contaminated-site records, as published March 6, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “Brownfield and retired power plant sites in Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/brownfield-sites/iowa (data as of March 6, 2026).
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
Go deeper than the public screen
Every site and score for brownfield sites in Iowa is free to browse. Pro adds Watchtower on 25 sites, alerts when new candidate sites, datacenters or interconnection-queue requests appear in your markets, score and capacity history, and CSV export. Enterprise adds team seats, weekly data files for all 147,272 sites, the REST API and an MCP server for AI tools.