Big data centers are becoming a big problem in Utah

Utah may have one of the largest reserves in the world, despite strong warnings from experts and fierce public opposition. Earlier this month, commissioners in Box Elder County signed on to the Stratos Project: A 40,000-acre reserve spanning the Hansel Valley region. It is supposed to establish America’s AI dominance, but perhaps at the cost of environmental damage and stress on already heavily taxed water resources.

The Stratos Project, sponsored by Shark Tank Investor and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary, is expected to be more twice the size of Manhattan and consume 9GW of energy – almost twice the peak of the state’s need for electricity in 2025. Its first phase is expected to cost more than $4 billion, According to Utah Money Watch. O’Leary pitches it as a way for the US to become more powerful in AI and strengthen national security by serving the government and “technical contractors”. “It shows the Chinese and the world that we are not messing around,” he said on a Fox News interview last month.

The project has received permission from the government and Gov. Spencer Cox, but it still has to obtaining environmental and construction permits. Construction is expected to take years, with no definite timeline. His path from idea to approval, however, was very short. O’Leary met Cox in January, where they appear to be discussing data center plans. Cox and Sen. Stuart Adams (R-UT) “rolled out the red carpet,” O’Leary he said in a Facebook post on January 9. “They’ve really improved the licensing process.”

In March, O’Leary’s investment firm announced plans to build the center in partnership with real estate developer and West GenCo. Like written by The Salt Lake TribuneThe 62-square-mile campus mostly sits atop private land. But it also houses Department of Defense facilities, including the Utah Test and Training Range, which is under the jurisdiction of the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA). MIDA will generate approximately $49 million in annual tax revenue, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Some of the money will go toward improvements at Utah’s Hill Air Force Base and support infrastructure and emergency services, according to Box Elder County Commission.

The data center has become a political space around the world. They place a high demand on the power grid, raising electricity prices in the area. They can also drain water, with a large area of ​​use up to 5 million gallons per day. Their backup generators can generate air pollution and a constant humming. And a new wave services promised by manufacturers may be false.

The Utah campus will have a power plant that is supposed to be independent of the state’s electricity, according to and FAQ on Cox’s website. The plant will draw methane (often called “natural gas”) from Ruby’s pipelinewhich stretches from Wyoming to Oregon. Not worth it Utah Clean Energy Comparison that Project Stratos could consume 448 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, roughly 1.5 times the amount of homes, businesses, and power plants in the state. Companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Cascade Natural Gas, and Nevada Gold Mines use the Ruby Pipeline, which is currently about 50 percent utilized. according to Rextag. It is unclear what effect the Stratos Project will have on gas supply or prices.

It’s not just the power consumption that matters; It is a screen of heat that its use can produce. Robert Davies, professor of physics at Utah State University, published a preliminary analysis of the data center’s potential, finding it would have a thermal capacity of 16GW – or “the equivalent of the energy of 23 atomic bombs dropped on the site every day.” Davies says Seaside that cooling such a large property would require around 400 acres and thousands of industrial fans. Davies says: Air is thin, dry and warm, so you’re trying to cool hot radiators by blowing hot air.

This arrangement can spread hot air into the desert valley surrounding the data center, which can raise daytime temperatures by 2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures by 8 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Davies. Rising nighttime temperatures can damage “a lot” of ecosystems, Davies says, because temperatures can’t drop below freezing point, making desert ecosystems dependent. The desert can be very dry, making it difficult for plants and animals to survive. Davies says his analysis is “presumptive,” but says it shows “the most we can expect.”

The Stratos Project is also estimated to produce 30.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, increasing Utah’s emissions by 55 percent, according to Utah Clean Energy.

Box Elder County commissioners have promised that the facility will use a “closed-loop” water recycling system that will not need to be topped up regularly, and will not divert water to homes, farms, or near the Great Salt Lake, which is said to contain water. lost 73 percent of its water agricultural use, irrigation, etc. But there are questions about where it is they will draw from.

Initially, Stratos planned to use water from Salt Wells Spring, which Bar H Ranch used for irrigation. to The Salt Lake Tribune. But after nearly 4,000 objections from the public, Bar H Ranch is the developer he pulled a job, resolve complaints that citizens paid $15 each to donate. Stratos Project sponsors have filed a new petition to claim an “unnamed spring in Hansel Valley,” According to KSL. They may benefit from a newly enacted water rights law that prohibits public officials from denying a request based on whether it would harm the public good or “interfere with the beneficial use of water,” as he said Axios.

Meanwhile, Utah officials have shrugged off — and downplayed — the public’s anger. At the Box Elder County Commission meeting to approve the data center, Commissioner Boyd Bingham took offense to the opposition by interrupting them, saying, “For the hell of it, grow up.” to where Utah News Dispatch. Gov. Cox was also unmoved. “I’m really tired because our country is taking years to get things done,” Cox he said at his monthly conference on PBS. “It’s a very stupid thing. We think that taking time makes things better or safer, doesn’t it?” Meanwhile, O’Leary he criticized the critics about its large Chinese-backed data center.

The battle against the Stratos Project is far from over, however. A a group of citizens has asked to hold a referendum which would allow a vote to change Box Elder County’s approval for the data center. It could be one of the biggest tests of whether the multi-billion dollar fund can handle it meetings, requestsand required to respond to local councilors.