Iron County Approves Conditional Permit for Data Center Project
Iron County officials have approved a conditional permit for a 640-acre data center project from Pronghorn Development, LLC, located in an unincorporated part of the county near Cedar City. The project, designed for AI model training and hyperscale computing, includes five large data center buildings and a dedicated 1.5 gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant. Despite public opposition regarding light and noise pollution, and environmental concerns due to its location in a pronghorn antelope habitat and high wildfire hazard zone, the permit was granted.
The Iron County Planning Commission has granted a conditional permit for a 640-acre data center project in an unincorporated area of Iron County, Utah, approximately eight miles west of Iron Springs Road near Cedar City. The applicant, Pronghorn Development, LLC, plans to construct five 1.35 million square foot data center buildings over an 8 to 10-year timeline, with each designed to support 300 megawatts of electrical capacity for high-density artificial intelligence and hyperscale computing.
The approved plans include a dedicated 1.5 gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant on-site, requiring a 24-inch natural gas pipeline. Water usage estimates suggest 10-20 acre-feet per year during construction and an annual operational demand of 7.83 acre-feet for the closed-loop cooling system after an initial 8 acre-feet fill. The project's location within a pronghorn antelope habitat and a high wildfire hazard zone mandates specific mitigation measures, including halting ground-disturbing construction during fawning season, conserving four acres of habitat for every one disturbed, and conducting surveys for the federally threatened Utah Prarie Dog population. A 100-foot defensible space buffer is also required around all structures due to the wildfire risk.
Public opposition has focused on concerns about light and noise pollution. In response, developers plan to build a sound wall near the power plant and implement dark-sky compliant lighting. Pronghorn Development projects 672 full-time equivalent direct jobs and 1,800 total jobs upon full buildout, along with an estimated $35 million annually in direct revenue for Iron County.