Box Elder County commissioners approved the 40,000-acre Stratos Project earlier this month, a data center backed by Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary that will consume 9GW of power — nearly double Utah's 2025 peak electricity demand. The facility is projected to span 62 square miles and cost $4 billion in its first phase, making it more than twice the size of Manhattan. O'Leary positions the project as essential to American AI dominance and national defense, serving government contractors and establishing what he calls a statement to China and the rest of the world.
The data center's on-site power plant will draw methane from the Ruby Pipeline, which runs from Wyoming to Oregon and currently operates at 50 percent capacity. Utah Clean Energy estimates the Stratos Project will consume 448 billion cubic feet of gas per year, approximately 1.5 times the amount used by all homes, businesses, and power plants in the state combined. The facility is projected to produce 30.2 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, raising Utah's total carbon emissions by 55 percent.
“It shows the Chinese and the rest of the world we are not messing around”— Kevin O'Leary, Shark Tank investor backing Stratos Project
The project moved from concept to approval in under five months. O'Leary met with Governor Spencer Cox in January, posting on Facebook that Utah officials were rolling out the red carpet and would accelerate permitting. By March, O'Leary's investment firm announced the partnership with real-estate developer West GenCo. The 62-square-mile campus sits primarily on private land but also overlaps with Department of Defense property including the Utah Test and Training Range, controlled by the Military Installation Development Authority, which stands to receive $49 million in annual property taxes.
Key facts
- 01Box Elder County commissioners approved the 40,000-acre Stratos Project consuming 9GW of power — nearly double Utah's 2025 peak electricity demand.
- 02The data center will consume 448 billion cubic feet of gas annually, 1.5 times the amount used by all Utah homes, businesses, and power plants combined.
- 03Utah Clean Energy estimates the facility will produce 30.2 million tons of CO2 per year, raising the state's carbon emissions by 55 percent.
- 04Nearly 4,000 public objections were filed before developers withdrew their initial water application and submitted a new one under recently loosened state rules.
- 05A citizens' referendum could reverse the county's approval and put the data center to a public vote.
The thermal load presents a separate problem. Robert Davies, a physics professor at Utah State University, published a preliminary analysis finding the data center will generate a total thermal load of 16GW, equivalent to approximately 23 atom bombs worth of energy dumped into the local environment daily. Cooling that load could require 400 acres of industrial-scale fans running continuously.
The high desert environment compounds the cooling challenge. Hansel Valley sits in a region where the air is thin, dry, and hot for much of the year, making air-cooling inefficient. Davies estimates the resulting heat dispersion could raise daytime temperatures in the surrounding valley by 2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures by 8 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rising nighttime temperatures would prevent the air from reaching the dew point, eliminating the condensation that desert ecosystems depend on. Davies warns this could have an extreme impact on local plant and animal populations, making an already arid region even drier. His analysis is preliminary but indicates the scale of environmental disruption the county can expect.
“You're trying to cool hot radiators by blowing hot air over them.”— Robert Davies, Physics professor at Utah State University
Water sourcing remains contested. The Stratos Project initially planned to draw from Salt Wells Spring, historically used by Bar H Ranch for irrigation. Nearly 4,000 public objections were filed, each requiring a $15 submission fee. Developers withdrew that application and submitted a new one for an unnamed spring in Hansel Valley. A newly enacted Utah water rights law now prevents state engineers from rejecting applications based on public welfare or more beneficial use, substantially weakening the grounds for denial.
County and state officials have dismissed the opposition. During the approval meeting, Commissioner Boyd Bingham told interrupting protesters to grow up. Governor Cox said at a monthly news conference that he was tired of the country taking years to get things done, calling delays the dumbest thing ever and rejecting the idea that more time makes projects safer. O'Leary accused opponents of being funded by China.
A citizens' group has applied for a referendum that could reverse Box Elder County's approval and force a public vote on the data center. The outcome will test whether grassroots opposition can block a multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure project backed by prominent investors and state officials. Construction timelines remain unspecified, with environmental and building permits still required before ground breaks.
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