Kevin O'Leary agrees to downsize proposed Utah data center by half

Investor Kevin O'Leary has agreed to downsize a massive proposed data center project in Box Elder County, Utah, in response to public opposition and a request from Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams.

Senate President Adams announced that he had sent a letter to O'Leary, urging a 75% reduction in the project's original 40,000-acre proposal, aiming for it to be brought down to about 10,000 acres. O'Leary, who chairs O'Leary Digital, subsequently confirmed his agreement to remove over 20,000 acres from the development plan. This reduction specifically targets land near the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area and a 620-acre portion northeast of the area near the highway, with O'Leary also promising to preserve a majority of the remaining acreage as open space.

Despite the proposed changes, Brenna Williams, lead liaison of the Box Elder Accountability Referendum, expressed skepticism, calling the announcement a "performance." Williams argued that the reduction might not be as significant as portrayed, as O'Leary may not have intended to develop the entire original footprint immediately. The group has filed an appeal to keep a referendum on the project alive, emphasizing that even with the reduced footprint, the data center would still impact the same watershed and airshed. Senator Adams' team confirmed that the developable area is now less than 10,000 acres and noted a commitment for water to the Great Salt Lake, highlighting that public engagement matters in these early stages.