Utah County Commission Approves 40,000-Acre Data Center Project Backed by Kevin O'Leary

The Box Elder County Commission approved Project Stratos, a 40,000-acre data center backed by Kevin O'Leary, on May 4, 2026. 5 times the size of Manhattan. The three members of the commission voted to approve the proposal despite opposition from hundreds of locals, with the meeting moved to the local fairgrounds in Tremonton, Utah to accommodate the crowd.

Members of the crowd chanted "shame, shame, shame" at the commissioners during the meeting. An attendee shouted "It's false. " The commission signed off on the project, which will provide data services to the military.

"We need to realize and remember that everybody has property rights, and that they can do what they would like to do with their property," Commissioner Tyler Vincent said at the meeting. Project sponsors plan to build a natural gas plant on-site for Project Stratos power needs and purchase existing water rights from private owners.

The approval stands in contrast to a broader trend of local resistance to data centers.

A new analysis by Heatmap News found that 20 proposed data center projects were canceled in response to opposition from local officials in the first three months of 2026. That number doubles the previous quarterly record of data center cancellations set in Q4 2025. There are 2,788 data centers in the development pipeline.

Those projects would represent a 67 percent increase in data centers in the country, according to an analysis by the American Edge Project. Reason reported that the surge in cancellations is a byproduct of the massive data center boom now underway. As of the end of 2024, little evidence existed that data center demand was affecting electricity rates nationwide, a Congressional Research Service report found.

The report noted that data centers have the potential to both increase and decrease energy prices depending on location and infrastructure investment. An analysis by The Economist similarly found no association between data-center additions and rising electricity bills from 2019 to 2024. Data centers generally produce limited negative externalities relative to their economic importance.

They do not generate substantial emissions or noise, employ small staffs that minimally affect traffic and public services, and use water at levels comparable to an office building. Despite its scale, Project Stratos illustrates these characteristics by generating its own power on-site and sourcing water through private transactions rather than increasing overall consumption.

The Box Elder County Commission meeting in Tremonton had to shift from its normal location and later moved virtually when opponents would not stop shouting.

Even after the approval, the intensity of the reaction suggests the data center backlash is likely to intensify as the national boom continues. Local officials elsewhere have increasingly sided with opposition to proposed projects, overriding traditional emphasis on property rights.

Reason reported that while all types of development generate some NIMBY sentiment, data centers face particular difficulty in gaining acceptance despite powering the digital economy.

A federal moratorium on new data centers appears unlikely, but restrictions are gaining traction at state and local levels.