Utah county approves Stratos Project data center plan amid backlash

In short: Officials in Box Elder County, Utah approved the Stratos Project, a proposed 40,000-acre data center campus that is drawing strong local opposition.

What happened

Box Elder County commissioners signed off on the Stratos Project earlier this month. The plan would place a massive data center campus across Hansel Valley. A data center is a large building or group of buildings filled with computers that run online services, including AI (think of it like a factory, but for computing).

The project is backed by investor Kevin O’Leary and a partner, real estate developer West GenCo. Reporting cited in The Verge says the campus could be more than twice the size of Manhattan and use up to 9 gigawatts of power, nearly double Utah’s peak electricity demand in 2025. The first phase is expected to cost more than $4 billion, with years of construction and no firm timeline.

Supporters say the campus would help the US build more AI systems and could serve government work. County and state materials also point to tax revenue, including money tied to land connected to the Department of Defense.

The approval is not the final step. The project still needs environmental and building permits.

Why it matters

Residents and experts warn the center could put heavy pressure on local resources. One researcher estimated the waste heat could raise local temperatures, especially at night, which could further dry out a desert ecosystem. There are also unresolved questions about water sources, even as officials say the site will recycle water in a “closed-loop” system (like reusing the same water instead of constantly pulling more from a tap). A citizen group is seeking a referendum that could lead to a public vote to reverse the county’s approval.

Source: The Verge AI