- State Auditor Tina Cannon spoke to reporters Thursday about the website focused on Utah's Military Installation Development Authority.
- The website aims to shed light on the Utah entity supporting a controversial proposed data center in Box Elder County.
- Cannon said she aims to inform the public amid scrutiny over the proposed project.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new state website aims to shed light on the Utah entity supporting a controversial proposed data center in Box Elder County.
State Auditor Tina Cannon spoke to reporters Thursday about the new website that's focused on Utah's Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA. The independent state authority has become somewhat of a household name in Utah, as the Stratos data center championed by celebrity businessman Kevin O'Leary has received a lot of scrutiny and public pushback.
The website, which is part of Transparent Utah, contains all publicly available documents about the authority, which has been helping shepherd the proposed data center along. The site includes reports, financial data, information about the authority's powers, board member biographies, how the entity has changed since it was first created by the Legislature in 2007, and other things.
"I am positive it will not answer every question for every person," Cannon said, "but we do think that this provides a better timeline and a better overview of what (the authority) is, how it evolved to what it is, and what it can actually do."
Cannon said the website was created because her office has been "blowing up" with phone calls from the public seeking answers about the authority and its role.
"Until the Box Elder project, I don't know that most people were aware of (the authority) at all," said Cannon, noting it is not a new entity. "Making the public aware of what we already knew is the goal here."
The Military Installation Development Authority is governed by an eight-member board that includes Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, both of whom are powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
A group known as the Utah Civic Compact this week alleged that the authority did not properly follow state law in allowing the data center to move forward, but a spokesperson for the state entity denied those charges.
