Kevin O’Leary Cuts Utah Stratos AI Data Center District From 40,000 Acres After Opposition

Stratos shrinks, still stalled

Kevin O’Leary backed a proposed 40,000-acre AI data center district in Utah with plans for up to 9 gigawatts of power, but the project was later reduced to about 20,000 acres after local opposition, according to Utah Public Radio. The proposed Stratos Project is planned for Box Elder County in northwest Utah, and the original site covered 40,000 acres, about half the size of Salt Lake City. O’Leary said developers hoped to have the first gigawatt of data centre capacity operating within two years, and the group had already invested about $20 million while planning to seek commitments from potential data centre tenants before raising more money.

O’Leary also said the project could eventually cost more than $100 billion and could support about 10,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent positions, while generating tax revenue for the state and county. The project faced strong opposition from residents, and the Box Elder County Commission unanimously approved it in May before O’Leary agreed by June 4 to cut the footprint from 40,000 acres to about 20,000 acres.

ABC4 Utah

SourcesThe Times of India

Military ties and public backlash

FOX 13 described the Stratos plan as a way for taxes generated by Stratos to fund construction projects for the Utah National Guard, while Stratos backers also hoped the U.S. military or defense contractors would become customers.

Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd told FOX 13 that the first time he heard the Stratos pitch, he thought it was a good project with "phenomenal benefit to the military," and he said, "There is income generated from Stratos that will help the National Guard."

FOX 13 News Utah

State Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, said the Stratos development was "not military land" and asked whether it had gone beyond what MIDA should do.

FOX 13 reported that MIDA lists 27 Utah National Guard properties where it could build or renovate, including a nearly 50-year-old headquarters along Interstate 15 in Draper.

O’Leary told FOX 13 that Utah was in "the perfect location" with "the right defense" and people with the "DNA to support the military," as residents continued to raise concerns about the project’s scale, energy, and water use.

SourcesFOX 13 News Utah

Nuclear AI proposals expand

KSL reported that Valar Atomics proposed a nuclear-powered AI data center on Utah state land, with the project called "Project Beehive" including 456 reactors and a potential 9.6 gigawatts of power.

KSL said the Utah Trust Lands Administration approved a land lease proposal from Valar Atomics at a meeting Sept. 17, and the Bureau of Land Management confirmed Valar Atomics submitted an initial application for an industrial campus near Price on approximately 9,000 acres of public lands.

KSL quoted Health Environment Alliance of Utah executive director Lexi Tuddenham asking, "What sort of planning is going to be done in the eventuality of disasters or major accidents," and she also said, "We have a right to know as citizens what is going on."

KSL reported that Valar already operates a test microreactor in Emery County called Ward 250, and Cory Gardner, head of commercial development at Valar Atomics, said during the Sept. 17 meeting, "America stands no chance against our adversaries without energy abundance."

Outdoor Life said a new Data Center Tracker launched this week provides a window into the scale, location, and status of data centers on public land, tracking 2,173 facilities in 49 states and noting that 568 have been stopped by local communities.

SourcesKSLOutdoor Life