Changing the plan: O’Leary concedes to Utah Senate President Sen. Stuart Adams’ demands on data center
Stratos Hyperscale Data Center backer Kevin O’Leary has agreed to significant concessions following demands from Utah Senate President Sen. Stuart Adams, spurred by public outcry. The agreement includes a 75% reduction in the project's proposed land footprint and commitments to water conservation for the Great Salt Lake and enhanced environmental protections. The project is still in its early stages, with no permits yet applied for or issued.
Kevin O’Leary, a backer of the Stratos Hyperscale Data Center, has agreed to major changes for a controversial data center project in rural Box Elder County, Utah. The concessions come after Utah Senate President Sen. Stuart Adams sent O’Leary a letter outlining conditions in response to significant public concern regarding the center's size and potential environmental impact. These demands included a 75% reduction in the proposed data center project area, from 40,000 acres to approximately 10,000 acres.
O’Leary responded by agreeing to remove 19,430 acres in and around the Locomotive Springs area, acknowledging its importance as a migratory bird habitat, and an additional 620-acre parcel. He stated that the project’s built industrial and data center footprint would align with the reduced scale requested by Adams, while preserving a majority of the remaining acreage as open space for potential future advanced manufacturing and defense-industrial uses. O'Leary also committed to treating excess water for the Great Salt Lake, even though the project area's water does not naturally flow there.
In addition to the land and water commitments, O’Leary agreed to greater transparency, stronger conservation measures, and enhanced protections for Utah’s natural resources. This includes heat-capture technology, independent scientific and engineering reviews of environmental impacts, and the creation of a public-facing website for project information. Senator Adams praised the concessions as a positive step, emphasizing that the project remains in its earliest stages and must undergo a full permitting and environmental review process before any approvals.