# Hancock County, Iowa: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Garner and Britt Hancock County is one of the places the data center build-out is physically happening. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 1 data center in Hancock County. Hancock County is home to Garner, Britt and Kanawha. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (0 in force); the latest is “Six-month data center moratorium (failed for lack of a second)”. 1 project is on the Delay Watchlist, including MCNI Concord Township Data Center Rezoning. Construction employs 165, up 24.1% since 2019. 1 data centers on the SAVRN Data Center Map -7.7% total jobs since 2019, now 5,761 448 MW of operating power plants, mostly wind ## Cities and towns in Hancock County Hancock County is home to Garner, Britt and Kanawha. Garner3,029 residents Britt1,981 residents Kanawha630 residents Klemme424 residents Forest City355 residents · 9% of the city Corwith253 residents Crystal Lake240 residents Woden185 residents Goodell138 residents - Forest City also extends into [Winnebago County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/winnebago-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Duncan, Hayfield, Hutchins, Miller. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Hancock County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Iowa | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 10,763 | 10,528 | ▼ 2.2% | 69th of 99 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 6,243 | 5,761 | ▼ 7.7% | 85th of 99 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $45,832 | $60,989 | ▲ 33.1% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 133 | 165 | ▲ 24.1% | 14th of 81 by growth | | Electric utility jobs (2019 → 2025) | 55 | 61 | ▲ 10.9% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 2.3% | 2.8% | ▲ 0.5pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Employers here counted 5,761 jobs in 2025, down 7.7% from 2019. Its power plants have 448 MW of capacity, 100% of it wind. Unemployment was 2.8% in August 2026, against 2.3% in 2019. Interstate Power and Light Co is the largest utility serving Hancock County, one of 6 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 17.90¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.77¢ median for Iowa utilities. 10,528 people live here, down 2.2% since 2020. ## Who powers Hancock County ### Utilities with service territory in Hancock County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Interstate Power and Light Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 417,153 | 17.90¢ | 29% | | Heartland Power Coop | Cooperative | Bundled | 4,351 | 12.67¢ | 12% | | Prairie Energy Coop | Cooperative | Bundled | 3,440 | 14.34¢ | 0% | | Boone Valley Electric Coop | — | — | — | — | — | | City of Corwith - (IA) | — | — | — | — | — | | City of Forest City- (IA) | — | — | — | — | — | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Wind | 448 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | FPL Energy Crystal Lake Wind II LLC | FPL Energy Crystal Lake Wind II LLC | Wind | 200 MW | 2009 | | FPL Energy Crystal Lake Wind LLC | FPL Energy Crystal Lake Wind LLC | Wind | 150 MW | 2008 | | Hancock County Wind Energy Center | FPL Energy Hancock County Wind, LLC | Wind | 98 MW | 2002 | ## The Hancock County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 5,761 | $60,989 | 1.00 | | Construction | 165 | $62,088 | 0.54 | | Electric utilities | 61 | $124,534 | 3.91 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Hancock County 1 data center in Hancock County is on the SAVRN Data Center Map. ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | Six-month data center moratorium (failed for lack of a second) | Failed / vetoed | 2026-09 | ### Delay Watchlist | Project | Status | Cause | MW | |---|---|---|---| | MCNI Concord Township Data Center Rezoning | delayed | zoning denialcommunity opposition | — | ## Hancock County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Hancock County, Cerro Gordo County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Hancock County | 10,528 | ▼ 7.7% | 448 MW | — | 1 | 1 | | Cerro Gordo County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/cerro-gordo-county) | 42,372 | ▼ 5.2% | 787 MW | — | 2 | — | | Franklin County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/franklin-county) | 9,868 | ▲ 0.3% | 509 MW | — | — | — | | Humboldt County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/humboldt-county) | 9,409 | ▼ 3.2% | — | — | — | — | | Kossuth County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/kossuth-county) | 14,322 | ▼ 3.4% | 462 MW | — | — | — | | Winnebago County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/winnebago-county) | 10,251 | ▼ 9.6% | 332 MW | — | — | — | | Worth County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/worth-county) | 7,338 | ▼ 3.3% | 355 MW | — | — | — | | Wright County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/wright-county) | 12,801 | ▲ 4.2% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Iowa [All Iowa countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa)[Cerro Gordo County42,372 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/cerro-gordo-county)[Kossuth County14,322 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/kossuth-county)[Wright County12,801 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/wright-county)[Winnebago County10,251 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/winnebago-county)[Franklin County9,868 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/franklin-county) ## Hancock County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Hancock County, Iowa? 6 utilities have service territory in Hancock County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Interstate Power and Light Co, Heartland Power Coop, Prairie Energy Coop, Boone Valley Electric Coop. The largest, Interstate Power and Light Co, charged residential customers 17.90¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Hancock County? 3 operating plants with 448 MW of capacity. The largest is FPL Energy Crystal Lake Wind II LLC (200 MW, wind). ### Are there data centers in Hancock County? Yes. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 1 data center in Hancock County. ### Is Hancock County adding jobs? Employers counted 5,761 jobs in 2025 against 6,243 in 2019 (-7.7%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 133 to 165. ### Does Hancock County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Hancock County, 0 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/iowa/hancock-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).