Highlights

• Linn County has long been a leader in protecting agricultural land uses and the county’s agricultural economic base.
• The county’s experience shows how development pressure raises dilemmas about meeting the county’s renewable energy needs and its economic and community character priorities for its rural places.
• Linn County sought to navigate the energy transition by ensuring that the development of local solar energy resources was informed by community values while maintaining the health and integrity of the land and allowing project proposals to proceed.

Key takeaways

• Community engagement outside the context of a specific development project lowers the heat of the discussion and allows for the adoption of reasoned tradeoffs to achieve community priorities.
• Constructive community engagement can be integrated into permitting processes if led by a trusted entity (in this case, the county).
• Agriculture and clean energy goals can successfully co-exist in a community’s long-range plan; there is no necessary conflict between solar development and the protection of agriculture, and possibly even some synergies.
• Agricultural protection can mean different things to different people. Identifying what the community wants to protect (i.e., soil health) allows mitigation to be built into the design process. Undefined or unfocused protection goals make mitigation impossible.

Introduction

Linn County is historically an agricultural and food product industry county, encompassing both a growing metropolitan area and large areas of high-value, productive farmland. The county’s agricultural character and economic base have been protected from development in local policies and plans for decades. In recent years, the county also recognized the growing opportunity to support clean energy development, first certifying under Iowa statutes as a wind energy innovation zone in 2012, adopting alternative energy goals in its 2013 Comprehensive Plan, and becoming a Gold-certified SolSmart community in 2017.

As solar developers started to propose large-scale projects, Linn County faced a dilemma: Addressing concerns about the impact of large utility-scale solar projects on natural resources, rural character, and agricultural economic base while supporting the emerging clean industry and the property owners’ interest in clean energy development.

As has been seen in communities across the nation, community members and agricultural stakeholders in Linn County raised many questions about the potential effects of this development on soil quality, drainage, and perceived inappropriate use of prime farmland. Other residents expressed support and were in favor of renewable energy development. However, opponents and supporters appeared to agree that solar deployment must be integrated into the community’s agricultural and natural resource priorities.

Linn County has demonstrated that focusing on the community’s primary priority—protecting agriculture—is an opportunity to promote sustainable business development goals and balance conflicting property rights, working to integrate local economic and social priorities with regional and national market demand for clean energy.

Background on Linn County

Linn County is located in east/central Iowa. While the county contains Iowa’s second-largest city (Cedar Rapids), much of the county is rural with high-value farmland and a farming tradition.

An agricultural community

According to the US Department of Agriculture, crop production accounts for 79 percent of agricultural sales in Linn County. Agriculture product sales primarily include grains, oilseeds, dry beans, and dry peas. The per-farm average product sold in 2022 was $279,881, which is a 76 percent increase since 2017.

Moreover, the urban areas have significant agricultural industries, including Quaker Oats, Cargill, and ADM. The food and bio-processing companies are among the largest agricultural processors in the nation and are major employers of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (ICR) residents. The ICR region processes 19 percent of the oats processed globally.

Energy landscape

Linn County’s energy is generated primarily by two companies: Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) and Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy distributes energy through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company, which serves Cedar Rapids and surrounding suburbs. Alliant is the largest electric energy supplier in the county and the second-largest utility in Iowa. It operates or contracts for energy from many wind and solar facilities, and its 2023 generation portfolio included 44 percent renewable energy, 37 percent gas, and 19 percent coal. CIPCO’s energy portfolio includes about 42 percent wind, 8 percent solar, and 26 percent coal energy generation. Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative is the distributor for CIPCO in Linn County. These energy providers power Linn County’s residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

Planning for renewable energy in Linn County

The economic and livelihood importance of agriculture is woven into the culture of Linn County. These values are incorporated into land use and development decision-making as the region evaluates renewable energy development.

Linn County laid an early foundation for renewable energy development planning, with their 2013 Comprehensive Plan (done every 10-20 years) regarding sustainable development and renewable energy sources as a high priority. The “Alternative and Renewable Energy and Resource Protection” section of the plan highlights the county’s commitment to integrating renewable energy development in conjunction with keeping high soil quality and mitigating any negative impacts on drainage. Alternative and renewable energy goals include supporting development, encouraging energy efficiency strategies, and identifying and mitigating barriers to local alternative and renewable energy.

In 2020, Iowa’s sole nuclear plant, the Duane Arnold Energy Center, was decommissioned after providing nuclear energy to the state for 45 years. NextEra Energy Resources purchased the power plant and started developing multiple phases of utility-scale solar projects—called Duane Arnold I, II, and IV—using the existing interconnection point to the grid. The large-scale photovoltaic farms will produce electricity deposited directly into the wholesale energy grid, just as the nuclear facility did for 45 years. Just prior to the Duane Arnold projects, another project, the Coggon solar farm, was proposed east of the Cedar Rapids metro area.

With three projects (Duane Arnold I, II, and Coggon) under development, developers approached the county to acquire permits. Charlie Nichols, Linn County Director of Planning and Development, grew up in the county and oversees the renewable energy transition. In accordance with county goals, Nichols and other city planners began the permitting processes for the proposed projects.

For the proposed solar projects, and in response to Linn County development requirements, NextEra Energy developed an engagement plan to solicit community input and respond to concerns. The Duane Arnold Solar Community Access Plan included specific actions to ensure stakeholder involvement in the development process.

The access plan schedule included activities in the pre-approval stage, such as conducting a public opinion survey to gauge support for renewable energy projects in the region, commissioning an economic impact study for the project, participating in a City of Palo public meeting to share information, and other informational and outreach measures. The efforts by the county and NextEra Energy were to ensure the transparency of project details and impacts.

Community engagement and permitting processes for solar in Linn County

The first three utility solar development applications (Duane Arnold I, II, and Coggon) went through contentious hearing processes, with hundreds of people attending and meetings that lasted up to six hours.

Many residents voiced their opinions during the project review process at the planning and zoning commission meetings. Ultimately, all three projects received the necessary special permits in 2022 under the existing ordinances.

After this process, the County Board of Supervisors enacted a moratorium on all new projects. Planners realized a need for the county to reassess its permitting process to clearly set community priorities and incorporate them into land use and permitting rules and regulations.

During the moratorium, Linn County managed a thorough community engagement process to determine how to balance support for the agricultural base with the recognition of renewable energy as an important emerging asset.

County Planning and Development launched Renewable Energy Review Committees focused on four areas: Good Neighbor Practices, Battery Energy Storage Systems, Balancing Agriculture and Solar, and Lifecycle Costs. Each committee, made up of one planning and zoning commissioner and four residents, discussed their issues, engaged outside experts, talked about viewpoints, and made suggestions on updating the zoning code. The main findings of each committee are described below.

1. Good Neighbor Practices CommitteeSubmitted eight goal statements for process modifications or ordinance changes that would mitigate concerns of adjacent landowners and county residents on livability and economic impact issues. Covered setbacks, construction nuisances, agrivoltaics, and visual impacts.

2. Battery Energy Storage Systems Committee
   Submitted seven statements for ordinance and process changes, as well as recommendations for emergency response standards and planning. Covered emergency planning, appropriate BESS siting, decommissioning, and screening.

3. Balancing Agricultural and Solar Committee
   Submitted ten statements recommending requirements or plans to be submitted with the permit application. Recommended plans included vegetation management, agricultural mitigation, wildlife assessment and management, stormwater, woodland inventory and management, and disaster management. This committee recommended using a solar scorecard.

4. Lifecycle Costs Committee
   Submitted eight statements covering management of hazardous materials, decommissioning, financial surety, and decommissioning requirements such as depth of equipment removal.

Ordinance and permitting changes

Linn County had developed a solar farm energy ordinance in 2014 (prior to the proposed solar projects) that included new solar-specific standards, co-benefits, and a more streamlined review process that did not require rezoning. Following the moratorium community engagement process, the Board of Supervisors enacted several changes to the ordinance for utility-scale solar projects.

2014 solar farm energy ordinance applied to proposed projects

The land for the proposed 2020 projects was zoned as Agricultural (AG) or Critical Natural Resource (CNR). The Linn County Unified Development Code requires all renewable energy projects to be rezoned as a Renewable Energy Overlay District (RE-AG and RE-CNR) applied to the project area rather than using a conditional use permit process. The county created the overlay to streamline renewable energy development, which had previously required separate review processes by the Planning Commission and the Board of Adjustment. The code changes also modified the Land Evaluation and Site Assessment standard that applies to most development in unincorporated Linn County but is not part of the rezoning process for the renewable energy overlay.

Linn County uses Iowa State University’s Corn Suitability Rating (CSR) to determine soil quality, which is part of the permit evaluation for most rural housing or other development proposals. The rating index is based on the productivity of a soil for growing corn and is used frequently across the Midwest to rate the suitability of an area for agricultural value. This is the primary metric for determining soil quality when identifying areas where agriculture is given priority over development. The ratings are based on how productive a soil might be for row-crop corn production from 0-100 CSR, with 80-95 CSR being the highest.

Linn County CSR ratings

Lowest potential soil productivity	0-50 CSR
Low potential soil productivity	50-60 CSR
Low to moderate soil productivity	60-70 CSR
Moderate to high soil productivity	70-80 CSR
High to highest soil productivity	80-95 CSR

Source: Linn County, CASE # JR22-0004 & JR22-0005, Executive Summary, Rezoning (2022), 4.

According to the Linn County Planning and Development staff report, the Duane Arnold I and II solar projects are on over 1,000 acres of land historically used for agriculture. The project areas have varied CSR ratings: Almost a quarter (23 percent) of the project area has the lowest to moderate soil productivity (0-70 CSR), 34 percent has moderate to high soil productivity (70-80 CSR), and 44 percent has high to highest soil productivity (80-95 CSR).

Moratorium community engagement process spurs ordinance changes

Incorporating the community perspective into the county’s ordinance after the moratorium community engagement process, the Board of Supervisors created a “utility scale solar scorecard” to address additional priorities and updated the zoning fees. The costs of meeting community priorities were included in the application fees that developers pay. The following are examples of permit requirements that were incorporated to achieve community benefits and resolve community concerns.

1. Vegetation Management Plan
   Regulations encourage diverse native vegetation in and around solar panels to maintain and build soil health over time. Agricultural production can then resume after decommissioning the panels.

2. Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) testing
   TCLP testing is a requirement within the decommissioning framework. TCLP testing ensures that the degraded or damaged panels are not leaching harmful substances into the soil and water. The decommissioning framework also requires quantifying potential risks and proving the site owner has adequate funds to remediate any damage resulting from misfunctioning panels.

3. Utility scale solar scorecard
   Linn County uses a scorecard that offers multiple pathways to meeting standards and priorities not included in ordinance requirements. The scorecard allows developers to choose among the pathways to design the site consistent with their business model. Some of the items within this list include higher priority species in the vegetation plan, project siting that avoids high CSR ground, and improved protection of soil health. There is a minimum point requirement to ensure that there are benefits for the community along with the mitigation of harm.

The Renewable Energy Review Committee’s responsibilities include continuing to redesign the utility-scale solar regulations and scorecard. The committee is involved in the permit application decisions, evaluation, and decommissioning processes that ensure the continuation of priorities identified in the public engagement process.

Solar project developments in Linn County

Linn County is now hosting three significant large-scale solar developments, and at least one additional solar project (Duane Arnold IV) has been proposed. The 100-megawatt (MW) Coggon Solar project was approved in 2021, although construction has been delayed due to legal challenges. NextEra Energy recently completed two solar projects, Duane Arnold Solar I and II, which have a combined capacity of 200 megawatts and were fully operational at the end of 2024. Alliant recently took ownership of projects I and II and will distribute the energy to customers in its service territory, including Linn County residents.

The proposed Duane Arnold Solar IV array project would generate 220 MW and include 180 MW of battery storage.

Such solar projects are a crucial step toward meeting the growing demand for renewable energy, as outlined within the Linn County Comprehensive Plan. Amid this energy transition, agriculturally focused communities are prioritizing the health of the land and surrounding communities, preservation of rural culture, and ensuring community benefits.

Key insights

Linn County is at the forefront of the energy transition. The county’s long-standing work to protect agricultural land uses from urban sprawl and rural development and its recognition of the region’s valuable renewable energy resources is a case study in balancing potential conflicts in land use priorities.

The county’s community and stakeholder engagement offers an example of how the integration of market-driven solar development into the agricultural landscape and economy can be successfully navigated to ensure community benefit in the renewable development process.

Communities that prioritize agriculture are important stakeholders in achieving our nation’s renewable energy goals and should share in economic and environmental benefits.

Integrating the public interest in local permitting and engaging community stakeholders in planning for development can begin even before a solar development proposal comes forward. An energy transition framework that recognizes local comprehensive planning goals, such as the Linn County Comprehensive Plan, provides a pathway to ensure that clean energy progress is closely aligned with community goals.

Linn County shows how engaging communities can achieve co-benefits from clean energy development

Each community is unique in how it wants to direct renewable energy deployment, but the case of Linn County provides some clear examples that can inform all communities.

The Linn County Planning and Development Division played an essential role in engaging with community members and creating standards for solar developers to implement community benefits and priorities. By setting up a process for constructive community input, the county allowed decision makers to make informed decisions. The updated permitting and review processes for utility-scale solar now respond to Linn County priorities.

Communities across the nation are facing new development risks and opportunities associated with the rapidly accelerating demand for renewable energy. Rural communities, in particular, face land use changes associated with the development of the now valuable renewable energy resources within their community.

The desired benefits of local renewable energy production include long- and short-term health and environmental benefits, reduced costs for ratepayers, and local economic benefits of investing in and using local renewable energy resources. Communities can realize these benefits while also protecting their agricultural focus and mitigating concerns about valuable agricultural resources.

Acknowledgments: Thank you to Kate Saucedo, Maya Chilcote, and Brian Ross for their contributions to this case study.