Once-bankrupt Wyoming pipeline could get a boost from massive Utah data center
A proposed hyperscale data center in Utah's Box Elder County plans to use the once-bankrupt Ruby Pipeline for on-site natural gas power generation, a move developers believe will revitalize the pipeline. The project, backed by Kevin O'Leary, has sparked widespread opposition over concerns about air quality, water resources, and potential impacts on the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and regional energy prices.
A massive proposed data center and energy campus in Utah's remote Box Elder County is drawing attention to the Ruby Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Developers of the data center, including West GenCo and celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary, are touting the pipeline as a vital component to fuel on-site natural gas generation for energy-intensive artificial intelligence facilities.
The project, which initially sought to draw 3 gigawatts of power but was scaled down to 1.5 gigawatts for its first phase after public outrage, has faced widespread opposition. Critics are concerned about its potential impact on air quality, water resources, and the fragile ecosystem around the Great Salt Lake. Gov. Spencer Cox has stated that the project will eventually incorporate other energy sources like nuclear, geothermal, and solar.
Historically, the Ruby Pipeline, a joint venture between Kinder Morgan and Pembina Pipeline Corporation, suffered financially after its long-term shipping contracts expired in 2021, leading to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Tallgrass Energy later acquired the pipeline for $282.5 million. Vladimir Dvorkin, a power systems professor at the University of Michigan, suggests that while the data center could revive the pipeline by utilizing its unused capacity, it might also increase competition for natural gas, potentially raising prices for existing customers in states like Oregon, California, and Nevada.