- Utah Senate President Stuart Adams urges Kevin O'Leary to reduce proposed Box Elder County data center size by 75%.
- Adams also demanded more environmental and transparency measures in a letter.
- Gov. Cox issued an emergency order on Friday calling on state agencies to prioritize protecting environmental resources.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Senate President Stuart Adams is calling on Kevin O'Leary to shrink the size of his proposed Box Elder County data center and include more environmental precautions, as pressure on the project continues to mount.
Adams sent a letter to the celebrity business tycoon on Monday, demanding that he scale the O'Leary Digital project from 40,000 acres to approximately 10,000 acres, or a 75% reduction, as well as addressing several environmental mitigation provisions.
These include implementing "the latest available technology" that reduces water consumption, while also treating and dedicating any water to the Great Salt Lake, and entering into an agreement with the Utah Department of Natural Resources over land conservation.
The project should also incorporate "heat-capture technologies" to help reduce concerns over its impact on land temperatures, wrote Adams, who is running for reelection for his Senate seat. In addition, he called for the development of a public website that includes everything from future approvals to water and air quality permits for better transparency.
"I am demanding greater transparency, stronger conservation commitments and enhanced protections for Utah's natural resources as this project moves through the review process," Adams said in a statement. "Utah can pursue economic opportunity while protecting our water, air, wildlife and communities. We can and must do both."
Box Elder County's three-member commission voted last month to approve the controversial data center proposal at the Stratos Project Area, saying it could lift economic development while also safeguarding national security.
Officials said the data centers would bolster the U.S. military's access to artificial intelligence and cloud-computing capabilities. Utah's Military Installation Development Authority, which is chaired by Adams, has helped advance the project.
The full build-out was expected to be 40,000 acres, which would be powered by 7.5 gigawatts to 9 gigawatts of power-generating capacity, far exceeding Utah's current energy demand.
Box Elder County Commissioner Lee Perry called the vote the "beginning" of the process, explaining that the project was still "subject to continued oversight, permitting and regulatory review."
However, hundreds of people attended the meeting, urging the commission to reject the proposal. Several protests have been held across the region since the decision, as residents and conservation groups pushed back against the project.
A Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that 53% of Utahns somewhat or strongly opposed the project, compared with 30% who somewhat or strongly supported it. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.
Adams' letter was sent as Utah leaders have softened their tone on the proposed project amid public pressure.
Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order on Friday that guides the development of data centers in the state, calling on state agencies to prioritize protecting water resources like the Great Salt Lake, while also mitigating impacts to air quality and wildlife.
The governor added that there could be a special legislative session later this year to consider new laws around data centers. Lawmakers previously agreed to include the data center in their list of proposed topics to study this summer.
"The public has brought up some concerns that some of us didn't think about that are important, and that matters," Cox said.
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, who owns more than 25,000 acres of land not far from the planned site, backed a referendum on the Box Elder County vote, telling KSL last week that he believes residents "should be the ones that make this decision." That was before the referendum effort was blocked on Thursday over a legal issue.
The project itself hasn't advanced far since last month's vote. A second water rights application for the proposed site was withdrawn last week.
