A bill to grant a state sales tax exemption during construction or expansion of data centers and nuclear power plants is under consideration in the Iowa Senate.
“Policies like this would encourage additional investment here, as opposed to other places in neighboring states such as Wisconsin, where we have facilities as well,” said Julie Voeck, a lobbyist with NextEra Energy Resources, which is restarting the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Linn County.
The bill has cleared a senate subcommittee. If it becomes law, nuclear power plants and data centers that get the sales tax exemption would have to donate 5% of that savings to set up a nuclear engineering program at one of the state universities. Pam Mackey-Taylor, director of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the group has environmental concerns about data centers and nuclear power plants and is opposed to the bill. “If the university wants to start a program in nuclear energy, they can do that, but they don’t need a kickback from these industries,” she said.
There are only 32 universities in the U.S. that offer degrees in nuclear engineering and none are in Iowa. Iowa State University had a nuclear engineering program, but shut it down 30 years ago due to declining enrollment. ISU also had a very small nuclear reacor on campus for the program and it was decommissioned 25 years ago. ISU officials estimate it would cost $3 million to establish a nuclear engineering minor and $1.5 million a year to offer the required courses.
(Reporting by Isabella Luu, Iowa Public Radio, and Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)