County mayor raises concerns about development

WEST JORDAN -- Utah elected officials are offering more details, to the extent that they can, about the state's attempt to lure a large data center, most likely involving Facebook, to West Jordan.

KSL has learned West Jordan is in competition with New Mexico for a Facebook data center, although neither West Jordan nor Facebook would confirm that the social network is the company involved in documents labeled Project Discus. Facebook is named in state documents related to power needs for Rocky Mountain Power, but all documents that are filed in West Jordan leave the name of the company involved in Project Discus private.

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams says he has serious misgivings about the possible data center. He is concerned about the number of jobs that would be generated compared to the amount of money Utah would be handing out in terms of tax incentives, and the 5.3 million gallons of water a day he says Project Discus would consume.

Sen. Curt Bramble is one of the state lawmakers who sponsored the bill clearing the way for business tax incentives in the last legislative session. He believes Project Discus would be good for the state, and yet another giant step toward promoting the "Silicon Slopes" reputation of the region.