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2mo ago

Box Elder County Attorney to Rule on Referendums That Could Put Giant Stratos Data Center Before Voters

The decision will decide whether organizers get a 45-day window to gather signatures and may slow the project as state studies of water and environmental impacts move forward.

Cattle graze on land proposed for the Stratos Project data center in Box Elder County on May 12. Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said he thinks Box Elder County voters should have a say in the center's future.

Overview

  • The Box Elder County Attorney was expected Thursday to say if multiple citizen referendum applications can advance to the signature-collection phase, a step that would let organizers gather roughly 5,000 signatures in 45 days to qualify the question for the ballot.
  • Hundreds of residents protested in Brigham City this week, telling commissioners they fear the 40,000-acre Stratos proposal would drain groundwater, worsen air and heat-island effects, and threaten the nearby Great Salt Lake.
  • Project backers, including investor Kevin O’Leary and supporters who argue the campus would boost jobs and U.S. AI competitiveness, have secured county resolutions and MIDA-approved tax-incentive guidelines to speed development.
  • State scrutiny has increased as the Utah Natural Resources interim committee voted to study data-center environmental impacts this summer and House Speaker Mike Schultz publicly endorsed allowing a local referendum.
  • A separate water-rights filing linked to the project was withdrawn after receiving about 700 formal protests, signaling ongoing legal and regulatory hurdles that could affect permitting and local water supplies.