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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Linn County Supervisors advance rezoning for Duane Arnold restart, add $1.9M annual operating payment
The vote advances NextEra Energy’s plan to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant, though additional approvals and agreements remain outstanding
Jan. 5, 2026 6:02 pm, Updated: Jan. 7, 2026 2:31 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The Linn County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the first consideration needed to rezone the land for the Duane Arnold Energy Center, marking another step closer to the shuttered nuclear plant resuming operations.
During a public hearing Monday, NextEra Energy presented its request to rezone nearly 400 acres of agricultural land near Palo to be used for the nuclear generating facility and for nuclear waste storage.
The 615-megawatt nuclear plant entered service in 1974 and was decommissioned in 2020. NextEra Energy is seeking to restart the plant’s operations by early 2029 to help meet increasing energy demand.
The area approved to be rezoned includes the plant. There are no current agricultural operations on the site.
According to Linn County’s staff report of on the rezoning, the company’s proposal to restart the plant has met the county’s standards.
Garrett Goldfinger, senior director of nuclear power development with NextEra Energy Resources, said the rezoning is a critical step in the overall recommissioning of the nuclear plant.
“We are still working through a number of state, federal and local permit processes, so this is one step of many that we’ll work through as part of the permitting scope,“ Goldfinger said at Monday’s meeting.
Goldfinger said NextEra will continue work on permit procurement, preparing the site to restart, management and construction through mid-2028. At that time, NextEra will request permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to place nuclear fuel into Duane Arnold’s reactors and conduct reliability testing. The company plans to transition into commercial operations in late 2028 or early 2029.
Goldfinger added that NextEra will not seek a rate increase for energy generation from the Iowa Utilities Commission due to the restart.
Charlie Nichols, director of Linn County Planning and Development, said that the City of Palo has been “very supportive” of the project since the beginning.
Plan includes annual operating payment
Also at Monday’s meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to amend a consideration, adding a stipulation that NextEra Energy must enter into a road use agreement with the City of Palo. That agreement will be in addition to the company’s road use agreement with Linn County.
Nichols said the county required an impact analysis to be submitted with NextEra’s application. He said a Duane Arnold restart in 2029 for a 25-year run is projected to funnel millions of dollars into the Cedar Rapids Community School District, Kirkwood Community College, local fire departments and Linn County.
Nichols said there are other financial impacts for counties that host sites like Duane Arnold.
He said Linn County and NextEra have established an agreement on an annual operating payment to the county for each year that the commercial operation is running.
The first payment will be expected within 30 days of the plant’s official restart and is estimated at $1.9 million. The annual payment will be adjusted each year to account for inflation.
Nichols said the payments would provide “long-term financial protection for the county and the taxpayers,” as well as fund the county’s emergency response, public safety and regulatory oversight.
NextEra has said it expects the plant’s restart to support about 880 temporary construction jobs and about 433 long-term jobs.
Hiawatha Mayor Steve Dodson said his city supports the project, which could bring several hundred skilled workers to the region.
“It's a long-term investment that helps our region grow responsibly. Students in Hiawatha attend schools within the Cedar Rapids Community School District and increase tax revenue from the Duane Arnold Energy Center will help support the schools, along with infrastructure, public safety and essential local services across the region,” Dodson said. “Hiawatha is also encouraged by NextEra Energy's investment in our community, including the conversion of a former call center into a training facility, demonstrating a strong commitment to local workforce development.”
Nichols said the construction period of the project is projected to bring an economic impact of about $213 million, while about $127 million is expected post-construction.
By having both a host community agreement — which is a voluntarily negotiated, legally binding contract between a private business and a local government — and a mixed land use agreement in place, Linn County Board of Supervisors Chair Kirsten Running-Marquardt said it shows that NextEra will pay its “fair share” of operating expenses and that the expenses won’t fall on the backs of Linn County taxpayers.
“You've been a good partner,” Running-Marquardt told the NextEra representative in the meeting. “I think that is another one of the reasons why we've had so much support, not only from the board, but from the community.”
Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. She is also a contributing writer for the Ag and Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative focusing on the Mississippi River Basin.
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Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com
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