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Regional snapshot: what the numbers say
For a data-center site, three questions must be answered together: what the facility will pay for delivered electricity and firm capacity, how much water its cooling system will withdraw and consume, and which incentives are legally available for the project’s size and schedule. The figures below are useful for screening, not for signing a power contract or declaring a site buildable.
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| State | 2024 average electricity price | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 9.07 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| Iowa | 9.34 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| Missouri | 11.06 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| South Dakota | 10.87 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| Minnesota | 12.35 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| Illinois | 12.21 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
| Wisconsin | 12.72 cents/kWh | Statewide average retail price reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 release |
Nebraska’s average is 0.27 cents per kilowatt-hour below Iowa’s. That difference is meaningful at very high annual consumption, but it is not a delivered data-center tariff. The averages do not show a particular utility’s demand charges, transmission costs, interconnection construction, congestion, backup requirements, renewable-energy contract, taxes or the price of capacity reserved for a new load.
How to interpret the electricity comparison
State averages are a screening signal, not a quote
A hyperscale or colocation facility normally needs a utility-specific proposal. Ask for the applicable tariff, coincident and noncoincident demand charges, minimum billing, power-factor provisions, standby service, outage obligations, construction allowances and the schedule for energizing each phase. Also obtain an interconnection study and confirmation from the relevant regional transmission organization that the requested load can be served on the desired date. No uniform public dataset establishes project-specific tariffs or transmission-queue capacity for these states.
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Why a slightly higher average can still produce a lower project cost
A site with a higher statewide average may have a better substation location, shorter line extension, faster interconnection, or a tariff that fits a high-load-factor facility. Conversely, a low average can be outweighed by a long transmission upgrade, constrained capacity or a delayed energization date. Compare the delivered, all-in cost for the actual load shape rather than ranking states by the table alone.
Questions to put in a utility request
- What firm megawatts are available at the proposed site today and at each expansion milestone?
- Which network and distribution upgrades are assigned to the customer, and what is the utility’s in-service date?
- How are energy, demand, capacity, transmission and ancillary-service costs calculated?
- Are interruptible, curtailable or standby products required or merely optional?
- What happens if the project misses its construction or load-ramp dates?
Water availability and permitting by state
Cooling design determines both water demand and regulatory exposure. Air-cooled systems, evaporative systems, hybrid systems and closed-loop arrangements have different withdrawal, consumption and discharge profiles. A permit threshold is not a guaranteed allocation: the agency can still evaluate resource impacts, competing uses, aquifer conditions and discharge quality.
| State | Withdrawal or consumptive-use trigger | Additional requirements or duration |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | Water-withdrawal permit at 25,000 gallons or more in a 24-hour period | Permits generally valid 10 years; Jordan Aquifer permits limited to 5 years |
| Minnesota | Water-appropriation permit generally above 10,000 gallons per day or 1 million gallons per year | For proposed or additional consumptive use above 100 million gallons per year, 2025 law adds data-center-specific conditions |
| Wisconsin | In the Great Lakes Basin, general water-use permit at an average withdrawal of at least 100,000 gallons per day over 30 days | Individual permit at 1 million gallons per day for 30 consecutive days |
Iowa: permit the use or impact, not a generic data-center facility
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources explains that it does not issue a permit for a data center as a facility; it issues permits for the facility’s use of, or impacts on, natural resources. Iowa’s Water Use Program uses the 25,000-gallon-in-24-hours threshold for a withdrawal permit. Most Iowa data centers purchase municipal water. Because municipal systems do not report each data center’s use directly to the DNR, public records may not reveal a facility’s exact consumption.
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Minnesota: lower baseline threshold and a large-use review
Minnesota generally requires a water-appropriation permit above 10,000 gallons per day or 1 million gallons per year. A 2025 law adds specific conditions when proposed or additional data-center consumptive use exceeds 100 million gallons per year. The commissioner must consider efficient fixtures and operating practices, recycling before discharge, reclaimed water, closed-loop systems, watershed restoration or replenishment, and protection against conflicts with other water users. An aquifer test may be required.
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For a Minnesota site, calculate consumptive use rather than looking only at the intake meter. Evaporation and other water that does not return to the source can determine whether the enhanced review applies. Include seasonal peaks, drought operating modes and the water balance for each cooling configuration in the initial application package.
Wisconsin: Great Lakes thresholds use a 30-day window
Within Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Basin, the general permit threshold is an average withdrawal of at least 100,000 gallons per day over a 30-day period. An individual permit applies at 1 million gallons per day for 30 consecutive days. Those averaging periods can produce a different result from a one-day peak calculation, so a site model should show daily values and the rolling 30-day average. Basin rules, source selection and discharge requirements should be reviewed before land is acquired.
What the water comparison means for cooling design
- A facility just below a threshold can cross it after an expansion, a hotter design day or a change from air cooling to evaporative cooling.
- Municipal supply can simplify operations but may conceal facility-level use in public datasets and may require plant or pipeline upgrades.
- Closed-loop and reclaimed-water designs can reduce withdrawals, yet they still require engineering, source-quality and discharge analysis.
- Every state can impose discharge controls separate from the withdrawal permit; cooling blowdown and sanitary sewer discharges should be treated as different workstreams.
Iowa’s data-center tax incentives
Iowa’s principal advantage is a tiered program that scales with investment and can reach electricity as well as equipment and infrastructure. The Iowa Department of Revenue describes a $200 million route under which a qualifying data center can exempt eligible computers, cooling and power infrastructure, backup fuel and electricity. The program requires a six-year investment window, at least 5,000 square feet, sustainable-design compliance, registration and annual reporting.
Lower-investment routes
Iowa also provides partial-refund routes for projects below the largest tier. On the $1 million route, a qualifying business can receive a 50% refund of Iowa sales or use tax on specified purchases. The refund is capped at 5% of the purchase’s sales price and is available for five years. The cap means the nominal 50% refund should not be applied to an unlimited tax base; model both the tax paid and the sales-price ceiling for each eligible purchase.
A separate route applies to at least $10 million of new construction or at least $5 million of rehabilitation. Its duration depends on investment: ten years for investment below $136 million, and seven years for investment from $136 million to below $200 million. Confirm the applicable tier, eligible property and filing deadlines with the Department of Revenue before placing orders, because registration and annual reporting are conditions of the program.
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What Iowa’s exemptions can change in a pro forma
- Electricity can be an eligible cost in the largest described route, which makes the incentive more valuable for a high-load-factor facility than an equipment-only exemption.
- Cooling and power infrastructure, computers and backup fuel can materially affect the construction-period tax model.
- The six-year investment window requires a phased build schedule that fits the statutory period.
- Sustainable-design compliance is not a marketing preference; it is an eligibility condition in the described route.
- Annual reporting creates an ongoing compliance task after registration and construction.
Illinois and Minnesota: important policy differences
Illinois: large package, but applications were scheduled to stop
Illinois has described a potentially large incentive package requiring at least $250 million in capital investment over 60 months and 20 full-time-equivalent jobs. Those jobs must be paid at least 120% of the median county wage. However, the Illinois agency page states that a June 5, 2026 gubernatorial directive means applications would no longer be processed beginning July 1, 2026. Because that date has passed, treat Illinois availability as a live policy-risk item, not as committed project value. Obtain written confirmation from the responsible state agency before assigning any Illinois credit or exemption to a financial model.
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Minnesota Department of Revenue guidance states: "Prior to July 1, 2025, electricity for qualified data centers was exempt from sales tax." Electricity treatment after July 1, 2025 must therefore be modeled under current law rather than copied from older data-center marketing material. The state may still be viable where water, labor, fiber or utility conditions fit the project, but the historical electricity exemption cannot be assumed without current confirmation.
What is not established for the other neighboring states
The available state-level comparison establishes electricity averages for Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin, but it does not establish a complete, current data-center incentive schedule for each of those states. Do not infer that an absent incentive description means no incentive exists. Contact the relevant economic-development agency and utility for the exact project, ownership structure, investment amount and construction date.
A practical site-selection method
Step 1: Define the load and cooling envelope
Set out the initial and ultimate IT load, power-usage effectiveness target, redundancy level, annual load factor, peak cooling demand and water balance. Identify whether water is consumed through evaporation, returned as blowdown, sent to a sewer or discharged to surface water. Without these figures, state comparisons are only directional.
Step 2: Request comparable utility proposals
Send the same load-ramp schedule to utilities in Iowa, Nebraska and any other serious candidate state. Require an all-in price by year, interconnection scope, customer-funded upgrades, firm-capacity date, outage terms and expansion assumptions. Keep statewide averages as a reasonableness check, not as the bid.
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Step 3: Screen water sources before selecting land
For each parcel, identify the municipal supplier, raw-water source, available treatment capacity, pipeline improvements, drought restrictions and discharge route. Apply the correct regulatory clock: Iowa’s 24-hour withdrawal threshold, Minnesota’s daily and annual appropriation thresholds plus the 100-million-gallon consumptive-use review, or Wisconsin’s Great Lakes 30-day averages.
Step 4: Build an incentive eligibility matrix
List the investment amount, new construction or rehabilitation status, square footage, construction window, equipment categories, electricity use, sustainable-design evidence, job count and wage level. Then map each item to a statutory requirement. For Iowa, include registration and annual reporting. For Illinois, include the $250 million, 60-month and 20-job tests but assign zero value until application processing is confirmed. For Minnesota, use post-July-1-2025 electricity rules.
Step 5: Discount policy and execution risk
Separate enacted, available benefits from proposals, expired benefits and benefits that depend on agency processing. A seven-year or ten-year incentive period is useful only if the project remains eligible and the purchases occur within the qualifying window. Model a base case with no discretionary benefit, then a case supported by written eligibility confirmation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Mistake: choosing Nebraska solely because its average price is lowest
Nebraska’s 9.07 cents/kWh average leads the group, but it does not prove that a particular site has spare transmission capacity or the lowest delivered cost. Require a utility and interconnection study.
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Mistake: treating a permit threshold as a water allocation
Iowa’s 25,000-gallon threshold, Minnesota’s 10,000-gallon-per-day baseline and Wisconsin’s 100,000-gallon-per-day 30-day average are triggers for regulatory review. They are not guaranteed volumes. Source reliability, competing uses, aquifer impacts and discharge controls still matter.
Mistake: using an old Minnesota electricity assumption
The documented exemption applies prior to July 1, 2025. Recalculate the operating model under current Minnesota law and retain the agency’s current written position.
Mistake: counting Iowa’s headline percentage without its cap and compliance terms
The $1 million route’s refund is 50% of Iowa sales or use tax on specified purchases, capped at 5% of sales price and limited to five years. The larger described route includes a six-year investment window, sustainable-design compliance, registration and annual reporting. Put each limitation next to the benefit in the model.
Mistake: assuming public Iowa water records show facility consumption
Municipal systems generally do not report individual data-center use directly to the DNR. Obtain consumption and capacity records from the municipality and include them in diligence.
Which state fits which project profile?
Cost-sensitive, high-load project
Start with Nebraska and Iowa because their 2024 statewide electricity averages were the two lowest in the group. Select between them only after comparing delivered tariffs, capacity dates, interconnection cost and Iowa incentive eligibility.
Project with major taxable infrastructure and electricity use
Iowa deserves priority screening because its described top route includes eligible computers, cooling and power infrastructure, backup fuel and electricity, while lower tiers provide partial refunds. Confirm the tier and all compliance conditions before treating the benefit as available.
Project with high consumptive water use
Compare the cooling water balance against each state’s trigger rather than comparing state names. Minnesota’s enhanced review above 100 million gallons of annual consumptive use and Wisconsin’s Great Lakes 30-day thresholds can materially affect design and schedule; Iowa’s 25,000-gallon-in-24-hours permit trigger can be reached by a much smaller daily withdrawal.
Project considering Illinois for a large incentive package
Illinois may fit the capital and employment profile on paper, but the stated July 1, 2026 processing halt makes agency confirmation a prerequisite. Do not close a site decision on the assumption that an application will be accepted.
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Due-diligence checklist before committing to a parcel
- Utility tariff, load-serving agreement, interconnection study and construction schedule.
- Firm capacity for the first phase and every planned expansion.
- Detailed hourly and annual water balance, including evaporation, blowdown, recycling and drought operation.
- Written municipal water-capacity and wastewater statements.
- Iowa withdrawal-permit analysis, Minnesota appropriation and consumptive-use analysis, or Wisconsin Great Lakes threshold analysis, as applicable.
- NPDES review for any surface-water discharge and pretreatment review for sewer discharge.
- State incentive eligibility opinion identifying investment, jobs, wage, square-footage, design, registration, reporting and timing requirements.
- Base-case financial model that excludes benefits not confirmed in writing.
Bottom line
Iowa is a strong regional candidate because it pairs the second-lowest 2024 statewide electricity average with a tiered data-center incentive program that can reach electricity and core infrastructure. Nebraska is marginally cheaper on the statewide average, but the winning site depends on delivered power and interconnection. Iowa’s water rules are neither the strictest nor the most permissive by a simple label: the 25,000-gallon-per-day-scale permit trigger, municipal-water transparency limits and discharge requirements must be evaluated for the actual cooling design. Minnesota requires current post-2025 tax modeling and careful treatment of large consumptive use; Wisconsin requires Great Lakes-specific withdrawal analysis; Illinois requires confirmation that applications are being processed at all. The defensible decision is a project-level comparison of power capacity and tariff, water source and consumptive use, incentive eligibility and policy certainty.
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