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The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah
AI Close AI Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah Kevin O’Leary wants to cover 40,000 acres. Residents say, ‘Not in my backyard.’ by Emma Roth Close Emma Roth News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth May 20, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC Link Share Gift Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images AI Close AI Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah Kevin O’Leary wants to cover 40,000 acres. Residents say, ‘Not in my backyard.’ by Emma Roth Close Emma Roth News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth May 20, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC Link Share Gift Part Of All the latest updates on AI data centers see all updates Emma Roth Close Emma Roth Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Utah may host one of the world’s most colossal data centers, despite stark warnings from experts and fierce public backlash. Earlier this month, commissioners in Box Elder County signed off on the Stratos Project : a 40,000-acre data center stretching across the county’s Hansel Valley. It’s supposed to establish American AI dominance, but potentially at the expense of environmental damage and a strain on already overtaxed water supplies. The Stratos Project, backed by Shark Tank investor and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary, is projected to be more than twice the size of Manhattan and consume 9GW of power — almost double the state’s peak electricity demand in 2025. Its first phase is projected to cost more than $4 billion, according to Utah Money Watch . O’Leary positions it as a way for the US to become an AI superpower and bolster national defense by serving the government and “tech firm contractors.” “It shows the Chinese and the rest of the world we are not messing around,” he said during a Fox News interview last month. The project has obtained approval from the county and Gov. Spencer Cox, but it must still obtain environmental and building permits . Construction is expected to take years, with no firm timeline in sight. Its path from concept to approval, however, was remarkably short. O’Leary met with Cox in January, where they seemingly discussed plans for the sprawling data center. Cox and Sen. Stuart Adams (R-UT) “rolled out the red carpet,” O’Leary said in a Facebook post on January 9th . “They’re really gonna accelerate policy in terms of getting permits.” “You’re trying to cool hot radiators by blowing hot air over them.” In March, O’Leary’s investment firm announced plans to build the center in partnership with real-estate developer West GenCo. As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune , the 62-square-mile campus mainly sits atop private property. But it also overlaps with Department of Defense land, including the Utah Test and Training Range, which sits under the control of the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA). MIDA would get around $49 million in annual property taxes, The Salt Lake Tribune reports . Some of these funds would go toward updating Utah’s Hill Air Force Base and supporting state infrastructure and emergency services, according to the Box Elder County Commission . Data centers have become a political flashpoint around the country . They put an enormous demand on the power grid, raising local electricity prices . They can also strain water supplies, with the largest centers using up to 5 million gallons per day . Their backup generators can produce air pollution and a constant humming noise . And the wave of new jobs promised by developers could be illusory. The Utah campus will have an on-site power plant that’s supposed to keep it off the state’s electricity grid, according to an FAQ on Cox’s website. The plant will draw methane (often dubbed “natural gas”) from the Ruby Pipeline , which runs from Wyoming to Oregon. The nonprofit Utah Clean Energy estimates that the Stratos Project could consume 448 b
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