AUR manager says existing Des Moines County data center uses no water; expansion would require utility-confirmed upgrades

John Palmera, manager of AUR Middletown LLC, told the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors that the company’s current 5‑megawatt data center “does not use any water” for cooling and that plans to expand to as much as 25 megawatts would require utility-confirmed upgrades paid for by the company.

Palmera made the remarks while presenting to the board and answering resident concerns about whether a larger data center would strain local water and electric service. He said Eastern Iowa Light Electric Cooperative and RRWA control service decisions and that AUR can proceed only after those utilities confirm capacity and interconnection terms.

The presentation sought to quantify the potential impacts. Palmera said the existing facility is 5 megawatts and that expansion scenarios range from 10 to 25 megawatts, with a “targeted expansionary collection date of March 2027.” He gave a “no water” figure for the current design and estimated water use under wet cooling designs: roughly 7 million to 8.8 million gallons per year for a 5 MW water‑cooled case, about 21 million gallons for a 15 MW case, and 35 million to 43 million gallons per year for a 25 MW case. “This facility there today uses 0 gallons of water per minute,” he said.

Palmera described four cooling approaches — dry coolers, closed‑loop liquid, immersion cooling and wet evaporative cooling — and said only the wet evaporative option uses water. He said AUR currently operates a closed‑loop system “which means the liquid never leaves the closed loop” and so the present operation uses no water for cooling.

On electricity, Palmera noted that flexible data‑center loads can reduce consumption during grid stress. He said this flexibility is built into contracts with the grid operator and utilities, and he cited MISO, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, as the regional grid operator. “On these risk stress days, MISO has loads like ourselves, which are called load modifying resources to use less electricity,” Palmera told the board, adding that turning down during grid emergencies helps protect homes, hospitals and small businesses.

Palmera also told the board that AUR would pay for needed upgrades: “We will pay 100% of the upfront construction cost for any major water upgrades,” he said. He described the local water main near the highway as a 2‑inch line today and said RRWA and West Burlington were evaluating 8‑ to 10‑inch connections and a water‑demand model for significant demand. He said existing water tariffs prioritize domestic use and include shortage rules and capacity gates that allow utilities to deny new service if members exhaust capacity.

Palmera framed the request to the board as a procedural one: delay permitting or condition any approval on the utilities’ technical determinations. “We ask the board to condition expansion on the fact that the utilities confirm electric capacity and interconnection terms,” he said, and offered to submit written peak gallons, annual gallons used, and seasonal patterns, and to disclose the chosen cooling technology before any water service approval.

Palmera also referenced a county action: “the Des Moines County adopted a 1 year moratorium on accepting our moving data center permits,” and he said the company had received a land‑use letter in September 2024 from county staff noting the parcel is outside county zoning jurisdiction. He told the board AUR has completed state inspections that the company would pass before energizing any new facilities.

The presentation did not produce a recorded vote or motion in the transcript. Palmera asked the board to rely on utility engineering and tariff safeguards and said AUR would fund necessary upgrades and submit final technical details prior to any approval.