Controversy surrounding data center approval connected to Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary

Box Elder County Commissioners in Utah voted to approve a controversial data center proposal known as "The Stratus Project," despite significant community opposition and protests. The project, backed by celebrity businessman Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" fame, is planned as a 4,000-acre development near Utah's Great Salt Lake. Opponents, including hundreds of protestors who flooded the commission meeting, voiced strong concerns regarding the project's potential environmental impact, specifically its anticipated consumption of water, air quality, and land. According to a county fact sheet, the development is expected to generate and consume up to nine gigawatts of power, which a state entity backing the project says is more than double Utah's average energy consumption. Critics compared its footprint to "40,000 Walmart Super Centers" in energy terms. Kevin O'Leary, known as "Mr. Wonderful," defended the project on social media, asserting that sustainability is at the core of their proposals and that the power usage is "completely self-contained." He also controversially claimed that over 90% of the protesters were not from Utah or Box Elder County, suggesting they were "bused in," a claim for which he provided no evidence. A local resident, Davis, who lives ten miles from the site, refuted O'Leary's claim, stating, "Nobody was bussed in and nobody was paid." The tense situation also involved an incident with an ABC reporter, Brian Wang, who attempted to approach Republican State Senator Jerry Stevenson, a member of the state-backed board for the project. Wang reported that Stevenson eventually slapped his phone out of his hand. The Utah State Senate Deputy Chief of Staff issued an apology from Senator Stevenson for his response during the incident, while also raising concerns about the reporter's conduct on private property. The station's news director accepted the apology. A state entity further clarified that while the total project spans 40,000 acres, the main building envelope for power generation and the data center is on 2,000 acres, and it will support potential military operations and data storage.