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Iowa

Solar permitting — Black Hawk County, Iowa

FIPS 19013

189 indexed meetings (19 energy-related), 2 known opposition groups.

Black Hawk County, IA

Compliance: ModerateSolar ordinance on fileTrajectory: StableSaturation: Moderate

NE Iowa; Waterloo/Cedar Falls (UNI); urban/suburban; limited utility-scale land; commercial primary. Permitting: Black Hawk County Planning & Zoning: CUP/SUP in Agricultural district.; 200-ft setback. Track record: Cedar Falls Solar

Permitting process

Local permitting pathway

Black Hawk County Planning & Zoning: CUP/SUP in Agricultural district.

Setbacks & buffers

State guidance: 50-200 ft from property lines typical; county-by-county variation

Spacing requirements

None codified.

Size restrictions

None codified; managed via CUP/SUP conditions

Penalties & bonding

No penalties or adjustments. Standard CUP/SUP process.

State-level permits & approvals

Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) generating certificate required for projects ≥25 MW (Iowa Code §478). Projects <25 MW: local CUP/SUP under county/township zoning governs. No statewide preemption of local ordinances — Iowa is a strong local-control state. County boards have full authority to restrict or deny solar below 25 MW threshold. Active local opposition movement in many agricultural counties; several moratoriums and restrictive ordinances enacted 2021–2024. IUB certificate does not override local zoning for sub-25 MW projects. MISO interconnection territory statewide.

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Full permitting requirements

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State policy & grid context

State RPS & clean energy policy

105 MW total (first state RPS, 1983) | Alternative Energy Production Law | Iowa Code §476.41-476.44

State incentive programs

Iowa Renewable Energy Standard: minimal (105 MW aggregate mandate met since late 1990s). Net metering: IUC-regulated utilities (MidAmerican Energy, Alliant IPL) offer net metering under Iowa Code §476A; programs vary by cooperative. Property tax exemption: 5-year exemption for solar equipment added via IA Code §427B.26. MidAmerican Energy planning 800 MW new solar at ~6 IA sites by 2028 (filed IUC Feb 17 2025). Utility: MidAmerican Energy serves Des Moines metro, western/central IA; Alliant Energy/IPL serves eastern/southern IA; rural areas served by 60+ electric cooperatives.

Grid & interconnection

MISO / Alliant Energy (ALTW) zone

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Full state policy & grid detail

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Battery storage (BESS) P1 State-Default Permitting

No standalone county BESS ordinance confirmed.

Local BESS ordinances & bylaws

Statewide (technology-neutral statute): 2024 amendment added electric storage units >=25MWh to IUC certificate requirement (ch 476A); smaller BESS sit

County-level battery-storage status, safety requirements, and projects — each linked to a primary source.

Community opposition P1 2 tracked

Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.

Black Hawk County board rejects wind farm moratorium plan Wind2026-06-13 · apnews.com
Black Hawk County rejects wind farm moratorium Wind2026-06-13 · wind-watch.org

SitePath maintains the most complete community-opposition dataset available, refreshed continuously from primary sources.

Subscriber intel Subscribers

Researched for this county and available with a subscription:

🔒Project track record
🔒Developer intelligence
🔒Community & board sentiment
🔒Governing board
🔒Sentiment rollup

Energy-related meetings & dockets P1

5 energy-related189 total in calendar5 data center

Halo color = sentiment of the relevant agenda excerpt: green positive, yellow neutral, red negative.

2026-08-04 Other
Data Center
ANY REPORTS OR INFORMATION FROM THE BOARD Supervisor Kurtenbach provided an update regarding the property tax webinar, the mailing of property tax statements, and the Iowa Data Center Decision Tool for county best practices.
agenda
2026-06-27 Other
Data Center
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
agenda
2026-04-13 County Board
Data Center
The Planning Commission voted to deny a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
agenda

2026-02-03 County Board
Data Center
The Planning Commission voted to deny a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
agenda
2026-01-20 County Board
Data Center
The Planning Commission voted to deny a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
agenda

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2 more energy-related meetings

Full records for this county are part of a SitePath subscription.

State PSC dockets P1

No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.

Local news P3

No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.

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Data sources: public agendas/minutes from local government sites; PSC dockets from state regulators; news from GDELT and curated RSS; sentiment derived from public meeting transcripts. Last refreshed 2026-08-27. See the county risk scorecard or the full Iowa permitting index.