Utah planned the world’s biggest data center. Then came the bipartisan pushback.
The Stratos Project, a massive data center proposed for Box Elder County, Utah, is facing intense bipartisan opposition due to its unprecedented scale, high electricity and water consumption, and potential environmental impact on the Great Salt Lake. Locals have filed a referendum and an appeal after county officials approved the project without typical public input or environmental reviews. The legal challenge against the project's approval is ongoing, with political leaders facing backlash.
The Stratos Project, a colossal data center development spearheaded by investor Kevin O'Leary's O'Leary Digital, is proposed for 20,000 acres in Hansel Valley, Box Elder County, Utah. The project, which some estimate could consume 9 gigawatts of electricity and an astronomical amount of water, has ignited significant bipartisan opposition from local residents, environmentalists, and some politicians.
Despite Utah's industry-friendly stance, concerns center on the project's impact on the Great Salt Lake, which is already in a state of emergency due to a historic megadrought. Critics, including Dr. Robert Davies from Utah State University and Dr. Ben Abbott from Brigham Young University, highlight the project's immense energy and water demands, far exceeding those of typical hyperscale data centers, and warn of severe ecological consequences.
The project gained approval in May from an obscure Utah commission, the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), and subsequently by the Box Elder County Commission, reportedly without adequate public input or environmental reviews. This process spurred a grassroots movement, the Box Elder Accountability Referendum (BEAR), led by resident Brenna Williams, to file for a referendum. After the county attorney denied the referendum, BEAR filed an appeal, which is currently ongoing in the courts, with attorneys for the county and O'Leary Digital seeking dismissal.
Political fallout has been swift; two Box Elder County commissioners and State Senate President Stuart Adams, who chaired the MIDA group that approved the project, were voted out of office. In response to the outcry, Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox issued an executive order establishing a "higher bar" for future data center developments, though he has not withdrawn support for the Stratos Project itself. Governor Cox has defended data center development as a national security obligation but acknowledged flaws in the Stratos approval process.