Box Elder County commissioners on May 4 unanimously approved plans for a 40,000-acre data center in northern Utah’s Hansel Valley.
Almost instantly upon approval, the project generated a haze of anxiety from both Utah residents and national groups. Reports have claimed the project will hurt the Great Salt Lake, inflate energy costs and use an inordinate amount of water.
Now Gov. Spencer Cox says the project will be built out more gradually, with county commissioners and the Military Installation Development Authority only approving one phase at a time.
The project is backed by “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, who has spoken regularly about his Utah plans on national TV news networks.
He also said he met with three Utah lawmakers who were enthusiastic about the project, including House Speaker Mike Schultz. But Schultz said he wasn’t at the reported meeting, and said he is still looking into the project.
Late last week, Cox defended the county commissioners’ decision to approve the project, saying Utah must remain a place where people can innovate “while also protecting our land, air, water and way of life,” as he wrote on Friday in an X post.
Meanwhile, think tanks, university professors and travel influencers alike have shared what they believe the data center will do to the state, reporting a range of opinions.
Ford Copple, the Sutherland Institute’s development coordinator, told the Deseret News on Monday that the concerns raised around air quality, water and electricity are valid, “but there are also huge potential benefits” to the project.
“AI has the potential to advance human flourishing,” he said, and “we need to find a balanced regulatory approach to bring these two things together.”
Utah’s “innovative and entrepreneurial spirit” is a defining characteristic of the state, Copple continued. “It’s important that we remain a state where innovation is not only allowed but encouraged.”
Here’s what we know so far about plans for the data center.
Details on the Box Elder County data center
The project, dubbed the Stratos Project, will be split between three parcels of land in northern Utah and will require 9 gigawatts of energy to help power artificial intelligence, cloud computing and national security.
According to plans, power for the project is expected to be generated onsite.
Most of the area, located about 40 miles west of Tremonton, will remain undeveloped to allow continued grazing and wildlife corridors. The initial phase-one permit grants a center covering fewer than 2,000 acres.
To preserve water, the center will use a closed-loop system for cooling, which supporters say uses less water.
So far, developers, including “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, have put $20 million into the project. By the time it’s finished, the project will likely cost investors more than $100 billion.
If construction proceeds quickly, the first gigawatt of data center capacity will be operational within two years.
The Stratos Project is expected to provide economic benefits to Box Elder County. In its initial phases, the area will receive $30 million in new revenues annually, and at full buildout, it could provide $108 million from the energy and data center complex.
Has Kevin O’Leary been meeting with Utah’s House speaker?
On April 27, O’Leary told “Fox and Friends” that he had met with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams in late 2025 about the project.
O’Leary recounted their conversation: “They said, ‘We want to build this thing, can you do it?’ I said, ‘I’ve got the team. I can raise the capital. Do you have the land?’ And they said, ’40,000 acres.’”
Schultz told the Deseret News on Tuesday, “Yeah, I wasn’t part of that.”
“He did reach out for a meeting, but my schedule was busy and I did not have a chance to meet,” Schultz said, adding that he didn’t find out about the project until early April.
He continued, “So, you know, I’m just a little over 30 days with this information as well, so I’m not trying to make a statement one way or the other around it. … But I was not made aware of it until just a little over 30 days ago.”
Schultz said the “most crucial” things to consider about the data center are “what is best for Box Elder County and what is best for the state of Utah.”
The Deseret News reached out to O’Leary for comment but did not hear back before publication time.
Will the data center raise the cost of energy in the state?
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill requiring any power development for data center projects to not negatively impact electricity costs for Utahns. All power consumed by the data center will be generated onsite or brought in.
A University of Southern California professor, Shon Hiatt, recently presented his research on how existing data centers influence the cost of electricity.
Data centers are responsible for only a 0.007%-0.08% increase in residential power bills, he said.
Will the data center hurt the environment?
Last Tuesday, Utah State University professor Rob Davies published preliminary analysis on the project’s environmental impact if it is powered solely by natural gas.
He said the project would generate 16 gigawatts of thermal load and produce “extreme” ecological impact.
Davies predicted that the project would increase the region’s nighttime temperatures by 8 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be enough to prevent condensation and dew point.
The same day, O’Leary posted a video to X addressing similar concerns. “We search for the best technology. There are air-cooled turbines now. … There are so many different ways to generate power. We can also put a percentage of the power through solar, wind and batteries,” he said.
Then on Friday, Cox announced that the developer had committed to pursuing a wide variety of power sources for the plant, including renewable energy resources, energy storage, nuclear generation and other low- or no-emissions solutions in addition to natural gas.
Will the data center hurt the Great Salt Lake?
On Friday, Cox tasked Utah’s Department of Natural Resources to ensure the project uses “the most environmentally-sensitive cooling technology” and that the Great Salt Lake is protected.
The governor also asked the developer to publish a publicly available water plan that shows Utah DNR officials that “no degradation occurs to the Great Salt Lake.”
“All water use must be reported publicly, and in no event will the developer reduce water going to the Great Salt Lake,” he said.
How is the military involved in Utah’s data center?
Utah’s Legislature created the Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, in 2007 to support military installations in the state.
In late April, MIDA’s board of directors approved the Stratos Project. Their website says the project is “designed to strengthen military readiness, national security and Utah’s long-term economic competitiveness.”
Specifically, the project will support Hill Air Force Base and the Utah National Guard by creating revenues that will “help fund critical infrastructure project tied to military readiness,” according to MIDA.
Paul Morris, the executive director of MIDA spoke to the Box Elder County commission on April 23 in favor of the project.
“We get a lot of proposals, and we turn them down. Either they’re not viable or they don’t have a military component. But this one was unusual for both its military and national security reasons and as well as its viability and economic opportunity it would bring,” he said.
Colonel Andrew Owens, Utah National Guard director of joint staff, then told the commission that the project would help ensure that the military will “be able to operate without interruption when it matters the most.”
The week before approval, Box Elder took public comments
On April 23, a week and a half before voting unanimously to approve the data center, Box Elder County commissioner Tyler Vincent said, “This project looks exciting, and the potential investment and job creation sounds great, but we want to make sure this project is done in the right way.”
“We want to protect our agricultural heritage; we want to maintain local control and address the concerns of our local residents,” he said.
When the commissioners gave time for the public to comment, a majority said they supported the data center.
Becky Meyer, a landowner in the area, told the commission, “I feel like (the data center) is going to be a great economic thing for this county or I wouldn’t be supporting it. I feel like it will be a positive thing with not a lot of impact.”
Local rancher Ken Healison told the commission his first thought about the data center was “no way.” He said he was concerned about the roads and traffic that would accompany the data center. Ultimately, he said he was supportive of the project.
The only resident who spoke against the project on April 23 was Dustin Mills, who said he was concerned about the center’s water use. “If the water impact is greater than anticipated and if it affects us, moving forward, what’s our recourse? What can we do to ensure that our livelihood and our properties are protected?” he asked.
On May 4, after public comment had closed, the public’s response to the data center turned explosive. As the commissioners began their meeting, protesters shouted, “Shame.”
“We will not allow shouting, we will not allow cat calling, we expect you to be kind,” Vincent said before being interrupted by yells. The hourlong meeting was consistently interrupted by protesters opposed to the data center.
Cox requires studies and approvals before construction can begin
Several divisions within Cox’s administration still need to evaluate the proposed plans before the project can move forward. These include:
- Division of Air Quality: Will evaluate projected air pollutant emissions and mandate control techniques.
- Division of Drinking Water: Will review drinking water systems. These systems must be physically separate from water used for cooling, fire protection or power generation.
- Division of Water Quality: Requires permits for all surface water and groundwater discharges to waters of the state, including the Great Salt Lake.
- Division of Water Rights: Will evaluate water availability.
- Division of Wildlife Resources: Can review the center’s potential impacts and provide recommendations to minimize/mitigate impacts to wildlife once a formal plan is submitted.
Box Elder voters may overturn the project’s approval
On Saturday, a group of voters from Box Elder County had applied to add a referendum to their November ballot to overturn the county commission’s approval of the data center.
The proposed referendum is undergoing legal review, and if valid will need more than 5,000 signatures to make it on the ballot.