Stratos Project water application reveals new details on massive data center
A water-right application for the proposed Stratos Project in Box Elder County details plans for 11 data center clusters and a 7.5-gigawatt natural gas power facility. Critics, including ecologist Ben Abbott, question whether the project can produce that much electricity while using the limited water described in the application.
O'Leary Digital Utah DC Sub I, LLC, associated with businessman Kevin O'Leary, filed an application with the Utah Division of Water Rights to permanently change water use from irrigation to support the proposed Stratos Project in Box Elder County. The planned campus would include 11 data center clusters, a 7.5-gigawatt generation facility made up of fifteen 500-megawatt plants, and about 4,850 employees.
Project documents claim the development would use less water than historical agricultural operations and could send additional water to the Great Salt Lake. Ben Abbott, an ecologist and executive director of Grow the Flow, disputed the project's water-to-power assumptions, saying the proposed efficiency has no comparable example. The application will be publicly advertised for two weeks, followed by a 20-day protest period, under the Utah Division of Water Rights' standard review process.