Residents voice concerns over self-powered data center proposal in Spanish Fork

SPANISH FORK — Dozens of people gathered Tuesday in the Spanish Fork City Council Chambers, and the overflow Heritage Room, to voice their concerns and questions about a proposed data center at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon in a meeting that stretched past midnight.

Provo-based company Volition, which builds self-powered AI data centers that it says "communities can say yes to," is hoping to redevelop the former Fingerhut warehouse site, 4000 E. U.S. 6.

Tuesday's public hearing, however, was not focused on approving a data center project. Instead, city leaders were considering a text amendment to city code that would establish rules and requirements for data centers with onsite power generation facilities. The regulations require projects to "operate in permanent electrical isolation," meet strict noise, water use and air quality standards, and states no more than two of these sites would be allowed within city limits.

Dave Anderson, the city's community development director, said the city has done more vetting and work on this amendment proposal "than we have on anything else." The proposed zoning language is atypical with its "level of specificity" and detail, he added.

"We believe the bar needs to be very, very high for uses like this," he said.

The more than six-hour meeting concluded with the City Council tabling the issue on data center regulations for a future meeting. The council said it will start compiling its thoughts on how to adjust the proposed amendment moving forward for further discussion.

"I've got a million questions, but I want the residents to know that I take this serious, and I'm doing my homework," Councilman Kevin Oyler said.

Councilman Shane Marshall agreed, saying, "The importance of getting guardrails right is a pretty big deal."

'Hotly contested'

Volition CEO Jeff Chavez said he "should've known" the proposal to build a data center would be controversial.

"The whole way we engaged as a company was to address the hotly contested concerns about data centers," Chavez said. The concerns and opposition against data centers was "the genesis of this company" as they wanted to create "as close to a sustainable operation as possible."

Chavez explained Volition's facilities differ from traditional data centers in their design and operations by generating their own power using natural gas-powered fuel cells that do not connect to or place demands on the existing power grid and producing substantially lower emissions and heat.

The cooling systems, often cited as a significant source of noise at data centers, are located indoors to mitigate noise impacts, and the facilities use a closed-loop water system that is filled once and continuously recirculates water. Chavez said the proposed site would only use two households' worth of water to fill up when it first starts operations, then would only utilize one household's worth of water each year for humidification.

Even though it isn't necessary according to city code, Volition is also proposing a development agreement with the city that "holds us accountable to everything we are talking about," he said. "There is not a scenario that we can use more water or take from the grid."

Chavez said he knows not everyone will be convinced on the topic, but he is grateful people have been willing to listen, and he is happy to answer any and all questions about the project.

"Our intent here is to continue collaborating. ... This conversation is not over. This decision is not rubber stamped by any stretch," he said, adding that even if the regulations get approved, there are still many applications and approvals the company faces before the project would be authorized to start. "We have no interest in rushing or pushing or hiding."

He voiced his appreciation for how civil and open the conversations have been with people in Spanish Fork, referencing the messy situation that has unfolded in Box Elder County.

"I don't think we have said or tried to say everything about it is perfect, but we do think compared to other data centers, what we are doing is innovative, and what we are doing is a solution to the national challenge of growth of data center infrastructure and finding a way to do it better," Chavez said.

Volition is not requesting any tax breaks, Chavez said, and instead would be generating around $44 million in tax revenue for the city, school district and other taxing entities. The company also plans to create a community fund to which it would contribute at least $500,000 a year for addiction recovery, food security, housing support and other community needs.

Property owner John Bankhead also spoke at the meeting, saying he has received many offers for the warehouse site. A potential buyer wants to put in a distribution center, which would increase truck traffic considerably for the area.

"Of the options we are considering ... we can't think of a better option" than Volition, Bankhead said.

'We are not lab rats'

Despite those assurances, many residents remained unconvinced. The public comment period, which lasted almost two hours, featured residents speaking almost unanimously against the project.

Several speakers argued that Volition has not provided enough data or supporting evidence to substantiate its claims. Some expressed concerns about air dispersement, impact on local wildlife, chemicals leaching into the ground, monitoring to ensure the project continues to operate how it claims it will, prevention of future data center proposals and requests for additional consideration before decisions are made.

With so many unverified claims about the project's impacts, resident Teresa Pierce said Spanish Fork should not risk being the first Volition location.

"We are not lab rats," she said.

Krosbi Moesinger said she was speaking on behalf of two Mapleton neighborhoods near the site that are opposed to the project. She said she has asked for data to back up the claims being made by Volition, and she has yet to be provided that.

"I'm not interested, and our neighborhoods are not interested, in being a test site to see if these claims take place," she said. "This is a highly dense residential space, and the ability this company has to dramatically affect our lives is substantial, and I don't feel that the due diligence as they've described has been fully vetted."

Sadie Ballif agreed, saying Volition's model is "conceptual and untested in full." She expressed concern for its proximity to the Spanish Fork River Trail, saying the area is "unique and delicate."

Scot Nichols asked why it had to be built here instead of "in the middle of nowhere."

Sarah Stevenson said despite the claims less emissions would be made, "I just want none. I want to keep the air as clean as possible. We already struggle with that in Utah, and I don't think it's worth adding even a little bit."

Anna, a senior at Maple Mountain High School, said it's clear to her that the younger generation doesn't want data centers, especially ones with artificial intelligence.

"Before we make so-called cleaner data centers, we need to close or remodel the ones that are already unfortunately around," she said.

Jim Apodaca lives in Mapleton less than a mile away from the proposed site. He learned about the project last week and attended two of three open houses Volition held, where he said Chavez was very open to answering questions.

"The difference is this one has different technology — it's apparently different, but it's still a data center that is going into my backyard," he said.

Apodaca's biggest concern lies in how many people didn't know this proposal was happening, so he created a website to help inform people about the issue. He hopes as the city continues this process, it educates everyone being impacted, not just Spanish Fork residents, and the city scrutinizes all options for the site, not just the data center proposal.

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