Box Elder County referendum to overturn approval for data center will not go on November ballot
Residents in Box Elder County, Utah, attempting to block a data center project via a referendum, had their efforts denied by the County Attorney's Office, which stated the commission's approval was not legally referable to voters. The opposition group plans to appeal this decision in state court. Meanwhile, the Utah State Auditor's Office launched a new website to provide transparency regarding the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), which is supporting the data center project.
Opponents of a proposed data center in Box Elder County, Utah, faced a setback after the Box Elder County Attorney's Office announced that their referendum to overturn the project's approval would not be placed on the November ballot. The attorney's office stated that the county commission's action to greenlight the "Stratos Project Area" was not a new law and therefore not legally referable to voters. Residents, including Tera Plyley from Tremonton, associated with the group Box Elder Accountability Referendum, expressed disappointment but vowed to continue fighting the project, which is reportedly backed by businessman Kevin O'Leary. The group intends to file an appeal in Utah's First District Court within ten days.
In a related development, the Utah State Auditor's Office launched a new website to address public inquiries about the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA). State Auditor Tina Cannon explained that the site provides a database of publicly available documents on MIDA, an entity that has been instrumental in facilitating the data center project. Cannon hopes the website will offer a clearer timeline, oversight, and understanding of MIDA's evolution and capabilities, especially since public awareness of MIDA significantly increased due to the Box Elder project.