The rezoning of the Duane Arnold Energy Center property was officially approved Wednesday morning by the Linn County Board of Supervisors.
With little new discussion, the board unanimously approved the third and final reading of the rezoning, which changes the zoning designation for the 393-acre site near Palo from agricultural to Exclusive Use-2 (EU-2), a new zoning classification developed and approved by the county in September for properties hosting nuclear energy facilities and waste storage.
The decision clears a key local hurdle for NextEra Energy Resources in its efforts to restart the Duane Arnold plant, which was shut down in 2020 amid economic challenges. NextEra officials say they’re seeking to restart the plant by early 2029, with most of its power output to be used by Google’s new Linn County data center under a power purchase agreement announced in October.
One minor change was made to the zoning ordinance after its first reading, adding a requirement that NextEra Duane Arnold LLC, the plant’s legal majority owner, must reach a road use agreement for the project with the city of Palo in addition to the agreement already reached with Linn County.
Many more regulatory steps remain before the plant can be reopened, especially on the state and federal levels. And as they have previously, while stressing their overall support fo the restart, county leaders stressed their authority in the process is largely limited to zoning and land use governance.
“Linn County does not have the authority to make the final approval or disapproval (to restart Duane Arnold), nor do we have authority over nuclear waste,” board chair Kirsten Running-Marquardt said. “But through this rezoning, this gives Linn County residents a seat at the table.”
The board also voted Wednesday to approve a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project. Linn County Planning and Development director Charlie Nichols said the agreement, between Linn County, Linn County Emergency Management Agency, and NextEra Duane Arnold LLC, is designed to cover costs related to emergency preparedness and the development of an emergency response plan creation before the Duane Arnold Energy Center is restarted.
“It’s to make sure that Linn County and Linn County EMA (are) reimbursed for those costs as they occur,” Mr. Nichols said.
The MOU, as well as the Host Community Agreement that will require NextEra Duane Arnold LLC to make yearly payments, starting at $1.8 million and increasing by 5% annually to support the county’s services, facilities, infrastructure, and community initiatives, will help ensure the county’s financial interests in the project are addressed.
“Both of those things are taking into consideration the people of Linn County first,” she said.
“This has been a lot of work for many people here at the county, for Duane Arnold and for different communities, Palo included,” supervisor Brandy Z. Meisheid said. “I think this is a good reflection of us working as a good partner and a good community member moving forward.”
More information on the Duane Arnold Energy Center project, including the rezoning application documents, are available on the Linn County website.
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Linn County approves second reading of Duane Arnold rezoning, along with host community agreement
