Polk County, Iowa
DataCentersExposed tracks 9 AI data centers in Polk County, Iowa — 4 operating and 0 in the pipeline, drawing 1.4 GW of reported power demand, led by Meta Platforms, Inc.. Its transparent data-center risk score is 0/100.
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Polk County, Iowa has 9 tracked data centers, 4 of them operating. Its composite data-center risk score is 43 out of 100 — see the breakdown above for which factors drive it.
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 1.4 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.
Every tracked facility
| Facility | Operator | Status | MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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.