On Monday, Box Elder County commissioners approved a plan to construct a 40,000-acre data center in Hansel Valley. But what’s next?
Now that the Military Installation Development Authority has secured county approval, capital-raising efforts are set to begin over the next 60 days. Though the cost has not been determined, commissioners estimate the project will cost over $1 billion.
Alongside capital-raising efforts, the state environmental permitting process will also commence. The data center requires air quality permitting, drinking water regulatory oversight, and water quality permitting.
The proposed facility would collect and store data, and power virtual collaboration services to ensure secure remote access for at-home work environments.
The County Commission negotiated various guardrail provisions, including a 55-decibel noise limit for the data center and power plant, restrictions on height, compliance with dark sky regulations, agricultural use consent in the surrounding area, and the creation of a local landowner that will oversee the project.
On the day of the approval, hundreds of Utah residents flooded the Box Elder County Fairgrounds to hear the discussion and decision over the proposed MIDA Stratos Project. Many carried yellow signs that read, “No Data Center.”
In response to shouting and chanting by the crowd of protesters and after many attempts by County Commissioner Tyler Vincent to calm the crowd, County Commissioner Boyd Bingham fought back.
“For hell’s sake, grow up,” Bingham said.
After half an hour of discussion, the commission walked out, choosing to broadcast the rest of the consideration in a private room away from the crowd.
Before the vote commenced, Vincent read a statement.
“I just want to start off by saying there is no one on this commission or any other county electric official that is going to benefit from this project, financially or otherwise,” Vincent said.
The proposed Stratos Project is located in an unincorporated section of Hansel Valley, Utah. The development hosted there would focus on large-scale energy generation, something many Utahns worry will increase taxes, drain water resources, and endanger wildlife.
That’s because data centers developers are increasingly utilizing freshwater resources to prevent overheating. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, large, hyper-scale data centers can go through up to 5 million gallons a day. Reports suggest there has not been a definitive environmental study conducted.
Opponents like January Walker, a US Congress candidate for Utah’s 4th District, are also worried about local wildlife — like bees.
“Bees are beings of electromagnetism, if the data centers go up, it messes with the electromagnetic fields of these bees, and so the bees would die,” Walker said.
On top of that, the proposed data center is projected to consume 9 gigawatts of power in Utah — far exceeding the current largest data center in the United States, which exhausts 3.9 gigawatts.
Despite those numbers, Vincent said the data center will not raise electricity prices.
“It’s near a natural gas pipeline that will allow the site to produce its own power and not put additional strain on the local grid or increase electricity prices for residents and businesses,” Vincent said.
Bingham added his own sentiment.
“If I vote no, this project could still move forward using different means to accomplish their goal," Bingham said. "If I vote yes, there are still major issues which we are all concerned about. Researching this, many of these will be addressed through other agencies. This project will comply with all fair water and land regulations.”
The meeting concluded with a unanimous vote in favor of the resolution 26-11, in which the county provides consent to MIDA to begin construction of the data center. The project is expected to take 10 years.
Several meeting attendees stayed at the fairgrounds to protest the decision. Protest organizer Thor Dorosh with Ogden Indivisible condemned the verdict.
“This was a travesty," Dorosh said, "and there's no democracy in this decision, and we should vote, but also that we need to organize.
According to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, MIDA has yet to submit applications for their various permits. When they do, draft permits will be subject to 30-day public comment periods and a public hearing if requested.
