A group of about 20 local leaders including elected officials, business executives and representatives from the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and Alliant Energy started their Thursday with a jolt as they toured ITC Midwest’s Marshalltown Substation on East Main Street Road near Sand Lake and discussed future energy needs in the community with the construction of the new Twinkle Substation already underway nearby along with plans for a pair of major transmission lines between Marshall and Linn counties progressing.

The tour started at the substation, and ITC Midwest’s Josh Carlson showed off the large facility full of rods, poles, breakers and switches and explained how it feeds 25 different Alliant Energy substations and holds about 234 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 150,000 to 200,000 homes. He also explained the role of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the regulatory agency that oversees transmission lines across 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

The Twinkle Substation, when completed, will be located southeast of the current Marshalltown Substation just east of town, and Alliant is also planning to begin construction on the 720-megawatt Bobcat Energy Center early next year with hopes that it is operational by 2029. Currently, ITC Midwest operates 219.8 circuit miles of transmission and five substations in Marshall County.

As participants asked various questions, the conversation seemingly inevitably shifted to the topic of data centers, and the ITC and Alliant representatives explained that as new centers continue to be built across Iowa, the need for a reliable electrical grid and sufficient power generation capabilities becomes even stronger.

ITC Midwest Local Government and Community Affairs Area Manager Jamie Toledo said data centers have many uses beyond simply allowing smartphone users to scroll through their social media feeds.

“Your financial data, your health data, homeland security data, it’s much bigger than ‘Oh, I’m gonna get on Facebook or Google. It’s layers deep, so I want to point that out because I think some people think ‘Oh, this is all for just getting on Instagram.’ No, it’s much larger than that,” she said.

Alliant’s Amanda Accola added that the areas chosen for data center projects in the future will likely be those where large amounts of power are the most readily available,

After the initial tour of the substation and the control room, the group moved on to Alliant Energy’s offices on the eastern edge of town for a presentation from Toledo and ITC Midwest Customer and Business Solutions Manager Aaron Curtis. Mayor Mike Ladehoff asked about the city’s position for future growth based on the substation, Bobcat Energy Center and transmission line work and also wondered about the potential for other “heavy energy user” projects beyond just data centers, which Accola said would include equipment manufacturers, food and drink processing, ethanol and aviation fuel plants.

“Energy is probably one of the biggest things they’re looking at,” she said.

It was noted that landing such a project could take years, but the fact that Marshalltown already has a 95 acre certified site for industrial use on the east edge of town, which is seen as a major asset. Curtis addressed what he feels are misconceptions about data centers as they have drawn scrutiny and controversy all over the country — in Iowa, a project in Palo about an hour east of here has become particularly contentious.

“When you do your own research or read more on what actually happens at a data center, you start to see that it’s not quite as bad as everyone thinks,” he said.

Referencing concerns about water usage, Curtis contended that data centers pale in comparison to car washes and felt they can be positive and valuable for cities, and Accola said the prospects they’ve been talking to are expected to be partners in the community.

“We do a pretty good job of working together in Marshalltown, and so it benefits everyone. That’s kind of our vibe,” Ladehoff said.

Once the event concluded, the mayor reiterated that he felt the community was in a great position for growth and said he learned a lot about the different sizes of transmission lines.

“It also shows how people work together in Marshalltown. They were very complimentary about how well the city and different entities work together to make things happen here,” he said.

Hall also felt that the major investments to strengthen the electrical grid gave Marshalltown a better chance to swing at large projects in the future.

“We’re gonna continue to market to industries that make sense for our community and for a high quality of life related to the positions that we see being created,” he said. “We talked a lot about data centers today, and certainly those usually require less permanent job infrastructure on the back end. But construction is an important job. It’s an important job to our market specifically. We have a tremendous number of construction workers, and if we get a project that has them working in our community for five or 10 years, that’s five or 10 more years that they can spend spring, summer and fall at home near their families and contributing back to the local economy, which many years, they’re not able to. So I’m excited for all the potential that these opportunities bring our way.”

City Administrator Carol Webb also shared her thoughts on the experience.

“I appreciated the opportunity to tour the ITC-Midwest Marshalltown substation this morning and learn more about the critical infrastructure that supports our community. It was helpful to see the operation and the work that goes into maintaining a reliable electric system,” she said. “Investments in infrastructure like this are important not only for current service needs, but also for supporting future growth in Marshalltown and the surrounding area.”

Morgan Hawk, a senior communications specialist with ITC Midwest, stressed the importance of the tour to help local leaders and community partners “better understand the role electric transmission infrastructure plays in reliability, safety and economic growth.”

“By explaining how the electric grid operates, we can build transparency and trust around the essential infrastructure that powers the region every day,” he said. “With significant existing transmission assets in Marshalltown and potential future investment on the horizon, proactive engagement and education are important. Events like this reinforce ITC Midwest’s role as a reliable partner in communities we serve.”

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.