Box Elder County commissioners on Monday gave the green light to a controversial data center proposal put forward by a Canadian entrepreneur, touting the import of the facility to national security.
At a rowdy meeting repeatedly interrupted by opponents of the project, the commissioners unanimously approved two resolutions required before the proposal can go forward. Tyler Vincent, the chairman of the commission, touted what he says are the jobs and economic development the project would create as well as the facility’s role in safeguarding national security.
The plans, put forward by Kevin O’Leary, a celebrity businessman, and O’Leary Digital, have spurred sharp backlash from opponents who worry the facility would sap water resources in the area, harming the Great Salt Lake. They protested when county commissioners discussed the issue a week ago and demonstrated again ahead of Monday’s meeting, held at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds complex in Tremonton.
“We’re already struggling with water. The Great Salt Lake is in trouble,” said Joy Beightol, of Salt Lake City, one of the demonstrators.
Apart from worries about the water she thinks the development would use, she thinks the proposal should first be focus of an environmental study to pinpoint its possible impacts.
At full build-out, the long-range plans, which came to public light only recently and have sparked sharp debate, call for development of a data center operation across 40,000 acres on three swaths of undeveloped land in Box Elder County. The data centers would be supported by 9 gigawatts of power-generating capacity, likely from natural gas-fired plants, another controversial element of the plans.
The data centers would bolster the U.S. military’s access to artificial intelligence and cloud-computing capabilities, helping it counter and surpass advances by U.S. adversaries like China. Proponents have also hinted the data centers would serve the defense industry as well.
It’s a large-scale project, however, and has taken some by surprise, though O’Leary Digital officials have been in talks with state leaders on the plans, including Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams. Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, which promotes economic development initiatives intertwined with military projects, favors the plans and has been helping shepherd the project along.
Vincent said county officials received more than 2,500 comments from the public on the issue. They created an informational website that also allows the public to sound off and submit questions and comments. Of those, 262 came from Box Elder County residents, Vincent said, which were given priority consideration.
This story will be updated.