Brownfield Datacenter Sites in Iowa
At a glance
Previously developed land with real or perceived environmental contamination. Brownfields trade remediation overhead for existing utility hookups, infill locations near fiber, and redevelopment incentives.
Top brownfield sites in Iowa
| Site | Type | County | Former use | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliant SBD 9302 Aegon NP | Brownfield | Linn | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 67.2 |
| Harriet Street Solar Field | Brownfield | Polk | landfill | 69 kV | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 65.9 |
| Marshall County Landfill Solar | Brownfield | Marshall | landfill | — | 0 MW | 4.3 yrs | 65.1 |
| Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail Yard Company Solar | Brownfield | Dallas | brownfield | 161 kV | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 64.3 |
| Sutherland | Brownfield | Marshall County | gas | — | 157 MW | 4.3 yrs | 62.9 |
| Iowa State University | Brownfield | Story County | gas | — | 9 MW | 4.3 yrs | 62.3 |
| NCAH Central Utility Plant | Brownfield | Story County | gas | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.9 |
| Metro Methane Recovery Facility | Brownfield | Polk County | gas | — | 2 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.8 |
| Durant | Brownfield | Muscatine County | oil | — | 2 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.6 |
| Red Cedar | Brownfield | Linn County | gas | — | 23 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.4 |
| Ames Diesel Generating Station | Brownfield | Story County | oil | — | 2 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.2 |
| Alliant SBD 9702 Cedar Graphics | Brownfield | Linn County | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 61.0 |
| Alliant SBD 9801 Aegon Martha's Way | Brownfield | Linn County | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.9 |
| Indianola | Brownfield | Warren County | oil | — | 13 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.7 |
| Hopkinton | Brownfield | Delaware County | oil | — | 3 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.7 |
| Schaus-Vorhies Solar | Brownfield | Jefferson | brownfield | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.4 |
| University of Iowa Main Power Plant | Brownfield | Johnson County | gas | — | 6 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.4 |
| Alliant SBD 8603 Donnelley | Brownfield | Story County | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.3 |
| Wilton | Brownfield | Muscatine County | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.0 |
| Alliant SBD 9901 Wells Fargo | Brownfield | Linn County | oil | — | 1 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.0 |
| Centerville | Brownfield | Appanoose County | oil | — | 60 MW | 4.3 yrs | 60.0 |
| Grinnell | Brownfield | Poweshiek County | gas | — | 48 MW | 4.3 yrs | 59.2 |
| Alliant SBD 8601 Quad Graphics | Brownfield | Iowa County | oil | — | 4 MW | 4.3 yrs | 58.9 |
| Alliant SBD 9403 Aegon DC | Brownfield | Linn County | oil | — | 2 MW | 4.3 yrs | 58.4 |
| Mt Pleasant | Brownfield | Henry County | gas | — | 9 MW | 4.3 yrs | 58.4 |
How does Iowa compare with other states for brownfield sites?
With 38 sites, Iowa ranks 5th of the 49 states that have any brownfield candidate sites. California leads with 103. Nationally, brownfield sites average 57.5/100 DC Readiness, above the 53.0 average across all site types. Across every site type, Iowa averages 56.3, the 8th-highest of 52 states, and its candidate sites face an average interconnection-queue wait of 4.3 years.
Where are the highest-scoring brownfield sites in Iowa?
The top 25 range from 67.2 to 58.4 on the 0–100 DC Readiness Score. They are concentrated in Linn (6), Story County (4), Polk (2) and Marshall (2). By grid region, 25 are in MISO.
County pages: Linn · Story County · Polk · Marshall
What power, fiber and flood exposure do these brownfield sites have?
Of the top 25 brownfield sites in Iowa, 2 have a recorded nearest-substation voltage, with a median of 115 kV; for 0 that substation is rated 230 kV or higher. Their counties have a median of 16 fixed fiber broadband providers in FCC data. The median distance to the nearest internet exchange facility is 25 km. The median interconnection-queue wait in their markets is 4.3 years. 2 of the 25 with a mapped FEMA flood zone sit in a high-risk (A or V) zone.
Frequently asked questions
How many brownfield datacenter sites are in Iowa?
GridCensus catalogs 38 brownfield datacenter candidate sites in Iowa, 5% of the national total for this type (5th of 49 states).
What is a brownfield datacenter site?
Previously developed land with real or perceived environmental contamination. Brownfields trade remediation overhead for existing utility hookups, infill locations near fiber, and redevelopment incentives.
What is the best brownfield datacenter site in Iowa?
By DC Readiness Score, Alliant SBD 9302 Aegon NP in Linn ranks first at 67.2/100, followed by Harriet Street Solar Field in Polk at 65.9.
Which Iowa counties have the best brownfield sites?
The top 25 brownfield sites in Iowa are concentrated in Linn (6), Story County (4), Polk (2) and Marshall (2).
How does Iowa score for datacenters overall?
All 2,572 scored sites in Iowa average 56.3/100 DC Readiness, the 8th-highest of 52 states, against a national average of 53.0.
More on brownfield sites and Iowa
Brownfield sites in other states
- Brownfield sites in California· 103 sites
- Brownfield sites in New Jersey· 52 sites
- Brownfield sites in New York· 48 sites
- Brownfield sites in Massachusetts· 44 sites
- Brownfield sites in Illinois· 33 sites
- Brownfield sites in Texas· 30 sites
- Brownfield sites in Ohio· 29 sites
- Brownfield sites in Kansas· 23 sites
Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
About this data
Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published November 12, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “Brownfield datacenter sites in Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/site-types/brownfield/iowa (data as of November 12, 2026).
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.